Short Interest in Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. (NASDAQ:COKE) Expands By 11.8%

Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. (NASDAQ:COKE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 157,700 shares, a growth of 11.8% from the May 31st total of 141,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 53,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola Consolidated

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola Consolidated by 98.3% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in shares of Coca-Cola Consolidated by 295.1% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 5,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,655,000 after purchasing an additional 3,745 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in Coca-Cola Consolidated by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 13,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,243,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Coca-Cola Consolidated by 3.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 580,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,565,000 after buying an additional 19,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola Consolidated during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,075,000. Institutional investors own 48.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Coca-Cola Consolidated from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd.

Coca-Cola Consolidated Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COKE traded down $13.31 on Wednesday, hitting $1,092.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 42,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,371. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $971.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $899.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 0.78. Coca-Cola Consolidated has a one year low of $614.22 and a one year high of $1,134.49.

Coca-Cola Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The company reported $17.31 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter. Coca-Cola Consolidated had a return on equity of 42.10% and a net margin of 6.83%.

Coca-Cola Consolidated Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Coca-Cola Consolidated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.12%.

About Coca-Cola Consolidated

Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes nonalcoholic beverages primarily products of The Coca-Cola Company in the United States. The company offers sparkling beverages; and still beverages, including energy products, as well as noncarbonated beverages comprising bottled water, ready to drink coffee and tea, enhanced water, juices, and sports drinks.