Contrasting Coca-Cola Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE) and Primo Brands (NYSE:PRMB)

Coca-Cola Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE) and Primo Brands (NYSE:PRMB) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Coca-Cola Consolidated and Primo Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Coca-Cola Consolidated	0	0	0	0	0.00
Primo Brands	0	0	5	0	3.00

Primo Brands has a consensus target price of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.66%. Given Primo Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Primo Brands is more favorable than Coca-Cola Consolidated.

Dividends

Coca-Cola Consolidated pays an annual dividend of $10.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Primo Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Coca-Cola Consolidated pays out 17.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Primo Brands pays out 28.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Coca-Cola Consolidated and Primo Brands”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Coca-Cola Consolidated	$6.65 billion	1.82	$408.38 million	$57.46	24.07
Primo Brands	$1.77 billion	7.28	$238.10 million	$1.61	21.11

Coca-Cola Consolidated has higher revenue and earnings than Primo Brands. Primo Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Coca-Cola Consolidated, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Coca-Cola Consolidated has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Primo Brands has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Coca-Cola Consolidated and Primo Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Coca-Cola Consolidated	7.81%	46.94%	13.27%
Primo Brands	13.63%	8.80%	3.62%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

48.2% of Coca-Cola Consolidated shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.7% of Primo Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Primo Brands shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Primo Brands beats Coca-Cola Consolidated on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It also sells its products to other Coca-Cola bottlers; and post-mix products that are dispensed through equipment, which mixes the fountain syrups with carbonated or still water enabling fountain retailers to sell finished products to consumers in cups or glasses. In addition, the company manufactures and distributes various other beverage brands that include Dr Pepper and Monster Energy. It sells and distributes its products directly to grocery stores, mass merchandise stores, club stores, convenience stores, and drug stores; and restaurants, schools, amusement parks, and recreational facilities, as well as through vending machine outlets. The company was formerly known as Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated and changed its name to Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. in January 2019. Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Primo Brands

Primo Brands Corp. is a branded beverage company, which focuses on healthy hydration. It delivers sustainably and domestically sourced diversified offerings across products, formats, channels, price points and consumer occasions, distributed in the United States and Canada. The company provides water filtration units for home and business consumers across North America. It also offers reusable packaging, helping to reduce waste through its reusable, multi-serve bottles and innovative brand packaging portfolio, which includes recycled plastic, aluminum and glass. Primo Brands was founded in 2024 and is headquartered in Tampa, FL.