Stock Update: The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) – Swire Coca-Cola, USA Signs Letter of Intent with The Coca-Cola Company to Expand Territory in the Pacific Northwest

[ Business Wire] – DRAPER, Utah–(BUSINESSWIRE)– Swire Pacific Limited (HKSE: 00019/00087) (“Swire Pacific”) announced today that Swire Coca-Cola, USA, a subsidiary within Swire Pacific’s Beverages Division, has signed a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) with The Coca-Cola Company. The LOI contemplates Swire Coca-Cola, USA being granted additional territory rights in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, subject to entry into and closing of definitive legal agreements. Today’s LOI follows the territory grants previously agreed upon, under which Swire Coca-Cola, USA is to receive additional territories in Colorado, including Denver and Colorado Springs and Arizona, including Phoenix and Tucson under The Coca-Cola Company’s 21st Century Beverage Partnership Model. Read more on this. The Coca-Cola Company (KO) , valued at $189.96B, started the session at $43.58. A quick look at the market, the company’s stock traded between $43.28 and $43.74 with a one year range of $36.56 to $43.91. KO shares are currently priced at 22.48x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry ’s 38.21x earnings multiple for the same period. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.32 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.06%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 20 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.45 per share, which would be $0.03 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.02 sequential decrease. What we find to be interesting is that the full-year EPS estimate of $1.94 is a $0.06 worse when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $10.33 Billion. If reported, that would be a 3.46% decrease over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Societe Generale upgraded KO from Sell to Hold (Feb 10, 2016). Previously, Stifel upgraded KO from Hold to Buy. The average price target for KO shares by the analysts covering the stock is $46.48, which is 6.65% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:KO) Similar Articles: Market Update: The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) – Argentina says Coca-Cola to invest $1 bln over four years Market Update: The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) – Coca-Cola Announces “One Brand” Global Marketing Approach Market Update (NYSE:KO): The Coca-Cola Company Signs Letters of Intent to Implement National Product Supply System in the United States