The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.51

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.51 per share on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49.

Coca-Cola has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 63 consecutive years. Coca-Cola has a payout ratio of 60.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Coca-Cola to earn $3.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.8%.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of KO traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.37. The company had a trading volume of 14,394,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,599,721. Coca-Cola has a 1-year low of $57.93 and a 1-year high of $73.53. The stock has a market cap of $307.46 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. Research analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $69.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

About Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores.