Coca-Cola Full Dividend History & Analysis (KO)

Coca-Cola is a beverage company that manufactures and distributes drinks to make money. The company owns a large portfolio of brands that it sells products under, including Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Simply, Fresca, Schweppes, Thums Up, Aquarius, Ayataka, BODYARMOR, Dasani, Dr Pepper, Minute Maid, and more.

Coca-Cola’s revenue is split into six main operating segments that are primarily differentiated by geography. North America contributes 36.5% of sales, Bottling Investments contributes 18.3%, Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) contributes 16.0%, Latin America contributes 11.4%, Asia Pacific 11.0%, Global Ventures contributes 6.6%, and a negligible 0.2% of sales come from Corporate.

KO’s dividend yield for the last 12 months is 2.7%, which means that investors would get $27 in dividends per year for every $1,000 invested in the stock. The dividend yield is found by dividing the company’s dividend over the last twelve months, $1.89, by the stock’s share price, $68.46, which is how we arrive at a dividend yield of 2.7%.

KO’s dividend yield is currently about 6.9% lower than its 5-year average:

It’s generally better to buy a stock when its dividend yield is higher than its historical average because a stock’s dividend yield rises as its share price falls.

Buying high-quality dividend stocks during periods when the dividend yield is higher than average can be an effective investing strategy.

Notable Historic Dividend Yields:

• Last fiscal year average dividend yield: 3.1%
• 3-year average dividend yield: 2.9%
• 5-year average dividend yield: 2.9%
• 10-year average dividend yield: 3.0%

 

Check out Coca-Cola’s full dividend history >>>

• Coca-Cola distributes its dividend every quarter, which means that it pays one-quarter of its annual dividend once every three months.
• Coca-Cola’s next ex-dividend date is November 29th, 2024, which implies that investors who purchase shares before that date will be eligible to receive dividends on those shares on the next dividend payment date.
• Coca-Cola’ s next dividend payment date is on December 16th, 2024. This means that any long-term shareholders or new investors who buy their shares before Coca-Cola’s next ex-dividend date of November 29th will receive dividends on their shares on December 16th.

Dividend safety is important for investors because it measures a company’s ability to continue paying and increasing dividends to shareholders without stopping or reducing dividend payments.

Cutting dividends is highly frowned upon on Wall Street, so companies will generally only reduce or cut their dividend payments if they don’t have the financial means to continue paying dividends.

That’s why it’s important to judge a company’s financial health. A business that has a high dividend safety rating has strong earnings that can support dividend payments, so there’s a low risk of the company reducing its dividends.

Payout Ratio & Earnings Analysis

• LTM Dividends per Share: $1.89
• LTM Earnings per Share: $2.47
• LTM Payout Ratio: 75.6%

Coca-Cola has a payout ratio for the last twelve months of 75.6%, which indicates that 75.6% of its $2.47 in earnings per share were distributed as a $1.89 dividend over the last 12 months. 

Financial Health

Companies with a payout ratio between 70% and 90% are at a moderate risk of reducing their dividend. While they are paying a significant portion of their earnings to shareholders through the dividend, they retain some earnings for growth and for emergencies.

However, any decrease in earnings or unexpected costs could pressure the company to cut its dividend to help the company maintain financial stability.

A payout ratio of 75.6% indicates that Coca-Cola can continue to make its dividend payments, but Coca-Cola might struggle to continue paying dividends if there’s ever a downturn in profits.

Notable Historic Payout Ratios:

• LTM payout ratio: 75.6%
• 3-year average payout ratio: 76.1%
• 5-year average payout ratio: 79.2%
• 10-year average payout ratio: 125.2%
  

 

Check out Coca-Cola’s complete financial statements >>>

For the next fiscal year, Wall Street analysts expect Coca-Cola to have a dividend payout ratio of 68.4%.

This indicates that Coca-Cola should be able to make its dividend payments, although there is a lower margin of safety.

It is worth noting that dividend safety can change over time, so it’s important to regularly monitor a company’s financial performance and dividend payment history.

Dividend growth is an important aspect of dividend investing because it means that dividends will grow over time, which helps to offset the erosive forces of inflation and boost total shareholder returns.

It also signals that a company prioritizes shareholders’ returns and shows that management has confidence that the company’s earnings will grow in the future.

The chart below shows how Coca-Cola has grown dividends per share at a 3.4% 5-Year CAGR, which is an average dividend growth rate:

Notable Dividend Growth Rates:

• Last Fiscal Year’s Dividend Growth: 4.5%
• 3-Year Dividend Growth: 3.9% CAGR
• 5-Year Dividend Growth: 3.4% CAGR
• 10-Year Dividend Growth: 5.1% CAGR

What truly matters for dividend investors is a company’s potential to continue growing its dividends, as this will determine whether Coca-Cola will be a reliable dividend stock.

Analysts expect Coca-Cola to grow its dividends per share at an average growth rate of 5.0% over the next 2 years:

View all Analyst Estimates for Coca-Cola >>>

The dividend history graph below shows a visual record of Coca-Cola’s dividend payments to shareholders over the past several years, and the full history is shown in the chart below: