Coca Cola (KO) Reported a 1c EPS Beat; UBS Raises Price Target to $49
UBS reiterated a Buy rating on Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), and raised the price target to $49.00 (from $48.00), following the company's 3Q15 earnings results. KO reported a slight beat of $0.51 in EPS, compared to consensus of $0.50. Overall, analyst Stephen Powers views the Q3 results as supportive of a bullish thesis on KO.
Powers commented, "KO modestly beat Q3 expectations, delivering $0.51 in EPS vs. consensus of $0.50 and UBSe of $0.49. Outperformance was driven in part by constructive pricing trends (seemingly here to stay for the foreseeable future), productivity and commodity-related savings, along with a shift (vs. UBSe) in marketing spend to Q4. These benefits were offset in part by adverse timing differences in case and concentrate shipments (UCS growth was +3.0% vs. flat concentrate volumes). Organic growth was +3% in the quarter (on +3% price/mix) vs. UBSe of +3.5%."
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Shares of Coca-Cola closed at $42.19 yesterday.