How Much Fizz is there in Coca-Cola?

Stifel analysts have upgraded their rating of Coca-Cola (KO) from a hold to a buy, owing to their perception that the company is going to undergo substantial organic growth in 2016. The upgrade was a big boost for Coca-Cola which has been trading horizontally of late in the $43 range. After the upgrade announcement, shares increased by 1.1%. Stifel bank placed a price target of $54 on the stock and annual growth on Coca-Cola has been pegged at 5%. Of particular importance for the company is its strong growth in South America. The Coca-Cola Company sells its 500 brands (still and sparkling) in over 200 countries. And it serves an estimated 1.9 billion drinks per day. The company features an impressive 20 x $1B brands including the following: Minute Maid, Fanta, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, Powerade, Georgia, FUZE TEA, Dasani and Del Valle.

What Are Analysts Saying about Coca-Cola Stock?

The mean recommendation for Coca-Cola is 2.4. On a scale of 1.0 (Strong buy) to 5.0 (Strong Sell) Coca-Cola is a definite buy. The mean price target for the stock is $45.84 with a median target of $48.00. The high is $54 and the low is $33. For the current month, the following recommendation trends have been listed:

While there are a handful of detractors, the overall consensus from analysts now is to buy Coca-Cola Company stock (KO). The reasons for rating the stock a buy are many and include the following:

On the flipside, the Coca-Cola Company has high levels of debt management risk. The company’s financial reports make for interesting reading. Since the details from the end of 2015 have not yet been finalized, all investors and traders have to go on is Q3, 2015 data. The following data was published: