Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, soft-drink behemoth Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Coca-Cola's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Coca-Cola facts
| Headquarters (Founded) |
Atlanta (1886) |
| Market Cap |
$153.5 billion |
| Industry |
Soft drinks |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue |
$46.0 billion |
| Management |
Chairman/CEO Muhtar Kent
CFO Gary Fayard |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) |
32.2% |
| Cash/Debt |
$16.5 billion / $29.2 billion |
| Dividend Yield |
2.8% |
| Competitors |
Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS )
PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP ) |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 95% of the 6,268 members who have rated Coca-Cola believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include kpoeppel and All-Star TheMiracleDJR, who is ranked in the top 5% of our community.
Just last month, kpoeppel listed several of Coca-Cola's positives: "Consumer staple. Rising dividend. Strong recent revenue growth, good earnings growth at reasonable P/E."
In fact, Coca-Cola currently sports a cheapish P/E of 12.4. That represents a discount to other beverage plays like Dr Pepper (15.4), PepsiCo (16.3), and Hansen Natural (Nasdaq: HANS ) (33.5).
CAPS All-Star TheMiracleDJR elaborates on the bull case:
When you look up the definition of the word "moat" you see a Coke can. Let's say you have a line of beverages. And you go to Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam's Club, 7/11, etc. And you tell them you want to have your drinks placed in front of or in a better position than Coke's products. And they ask you how much your going to spend on marketing to support sales of the product. When they hear your number, and compare it to Coke's, just hope they are not eating anything gross when they burst out laughing. If I were forced to put all my money in one stock, this would be a major contender.
What do you think about Coca-Cola, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!
Interested in another easy way to track Coca-Cola? Add it to your watchlist.
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