Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, soft-drink behemoth Coca-Cola
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 | $147.8 billion |
| Industry | Soft drinks |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $35.12 billion |
| Management |
Chairman/CEO Muhtar Kent CFO Gary Fayard |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | 33.1% |
| Cash/Debt | $11.34 billion / $23.42 billion |
| Dividend Yield | 2.9% |
| Competitors |
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
PepsiCo |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 95% of the 5,684 members who have rated Coca-Cola believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include shanelofgren and rrowntree.
Late last year , shanelofgren wrote that Coca-Cola continues to be an attractive global growth pick:
They've grown by intelligently applying a strategy that exploits changes in global economics, culture and demographics. I think that intelligence remains, the strategy is still applicable and the global changes are occurring faster than ever. Thus, the company should continue to grow.
Currently, Coca-Cola even sports a cheapish P/E of 12.7. That represents a discount to other beverage stocks like Dr Pepper Snapple (16.7), PepsiCo (16.1), and Hansen Natural
CAPS member rrowntree expands on the international opportunity:
[Coca-Cola] is the only company that is in all corners of the earth, right out to the edges of the world people living in grass huts know Coke. ... Ready for explosive growth as BRIC and near BRIC countries get huge surge of middle class growth want it and will get it not as a discretionary item but as a non-discretionary. Research backs this up that people will always spend a little on pleasure no matter how tough things get.
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