What Is the Stock Symbol for Coca Cola?
The red and white logo of Coca Cola is the most widely recognized brand name in the world, and the formula for the beverage is probably the most closely guarded trade secret in corporate America. For investors, the Coca-Cola Company has been a perennial blue chip stock for over a century. To find information about the company you start with stock quotes, and for those you need to know the stock symbol for Coca Cola. Potential investors need more information than just the price, so in this article you'll find an outline of the company's history, performance, and links to obtain more information (see Resources below).
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Identification
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The Coca Cola Company is a publicly owned corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has the stock symbol KO. It was added to the list of 30 industrial firms that make up the Dow Jones Index in 1987. Use the stock symbol to locate price quote information for Coca Cola on financial and brokerage websites.
History
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The origins of Coca Cola trace back to the post-Civil War South where J.S Pemberton marketed a patent medicine, "Pemberton's French Wine of Cola." Pemberton revised his concoction in 1885 when the local government passed laws prohibiting alcoholic beverages, and soon this early version of Coca Cola was being sold at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta and other soda fountains. The popularity of the drink led to a struggle over rights to the name Coca Cola in which Asa Chandler of Atlanta emerged the victor, incorporating the Coca Cola Company in 1892. Innovative marketing like the introduction of bottled Coke in 1894 and franchising bottling operations helped make Coca Cola one of the world's premier manufacturing corporations by the 1930s. Canned Coca Cola was first marketed in 1955. In 1985 the company suffered one of the most embarrassing marketing flops in history when it attempted to discontinue the perennial favorite and substitute a reformulated "New Coke." The experiment lasted only a year and the company quickly recovered, but the incident is graphic testimony to the public's affection for the venerable soft drink.
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Types
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The Coca Cola Company markets a variety of non-alcoholic beverages in addition to Coca Cola, including Tab, Diet Coke, Fanta, and bottled water. Distribution is primarily in two forms. Franchised bottling plants located around the world mix the syrup stock with carbonated water and deliver the canned or bottled drinks to stores and vending companies. The syrup itself is sold directly to restaurants where it is mixed at the time of sale.
Size
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As of 2008 the company had a market capitalization of $141 billion. Revenues for 2007 were nearly $29 billion with net income of $5.81 billion. Coca Cola assets in 2008 were about $43 billion with total equity of $22 billion. In the same year the company employed over 90,000 people and directed its worldwide operations from its corporate headquarters located in Atlanta.
Features
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For investors current information is critical to making buying decisions, even with a proven name like Coca Cola. The company's website is an excellent resource. You can download recent annual reports along with interim reports, SEC filings and the new owner's guide. The site also provides daily stock price and trading volume data. Purchasing stock in Coca Cola is easy, and it only takes a phone call or online order to your broker. As of 2008 the company did not offer a direct stock purchase plan. For existing stockholders (at least one share) there is a dividend reinvestment program, and you can get the details of their investor relations online site (see Resources below).
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