Morgan Stanley Turns Bullish On Coca-Cola, Sees Encouraging Signs In Q2 Report

Beverage giant Coca-Cola Co KO is trading at an "outsized valuation discount" versus its peers, and investors should take advantage of the compelling valuation gap, according to Morgan Stanley.

The Coca-Cola Analyst: Dara Mohsenian upgraded Coca-Cola from Equal-weight to Overweight with a price target lifted from $52 to $54.

The Coca-Cola Thesis: Morgan Stanley moved to the sidelines in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic given Coca-Cola's 40% exposure to eating and dining out and another 10% of the business tied to gas and convenience channels, Mohsenian said in a Wednesday upgrade note.

Yet Coca-Cola's recent second-quarter print looks to signal a bottom point,and consensus estimates moving forward are "more reasonable," the analyst said. 

Some of the encouraging takeaways from Coca-Cola's print are as follows, he said:

  • Unit case volume improved from negative 25% in April to down by mid-single digits to-date in July.
  • Volume weakness was tied to short-term lockdown measures.
  • Coca-Cola expects to return to pre-pandemic levels before a global economic recovery.
  • Coca-Cola will protect forward earnings through productivity improvements.

The stock has underperformed the S&P 500 index by 2,800 basis points over the past fourth months and underperformed its mega-cap consumer packaged goods peers by 1,700 basis points, Mohsenian said.

From a valuation perspective, Coca-Cola's relative NTM P/E multiple implies a 3% discount versus mega-cap peers, and this is also more than one standard deviation below the 10-year average, the analyst said. 

The same holds true for out-year estimates, as Coca-Cola's stock is trading at a 7% P/E discount to its mega-cap peers on 2022 estimates versus a 6% premium at the start of 2020, according to Morgan Stanley. 

KO Price Action: Shares of Coca-Cola were trading higher by 1.59% at $47.94 at last check Wednesday. 

Related Links:

The Early Reaction To Coca-Cola's Q2

Benzinga's Top Upgrades, Downgrades For July 22, 2020

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
date
ticker
name
Price Target
Upside/Downside
Recommendation
Firm
Posted In: Analyst ColorUpgradesPrice TargetAnalyst RatingsbeveragesCoronavirusDara MohsenianMorgan Stanley
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!