Will Coca-Cola Stock (KO) Survive RFK Jr?
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has gone to war with Coca-Cola (KO) in an effort to Make America Healthy Again. This has the new secretary working alongside the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ban soda and other sugary drinks from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
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While the USDA can't ban these drinks on its own, it can exclude them from being eligible for SNAP if states request the change first. This has already happened in Nebraska, which resulted in the removal of soda and energy drinks from SNAP.
RFK Jr. has pushed for other states to make the same request. He believes this would help reduce obesity and chronic diseases in the U.S. The HHS Secretary may have a point, as the U.S. suffers higher rates of obesity and chronic diseases than other countries.
What Does This Mean for Coca-Cola Stock?
If RFK Jr.'s war to Make America Healthy Again is a success, it could limit the ease of access that SNAP recipients have to Coca-Cola's products. This, and a potential shift in consumer habits to improve health, could weigh down KO stock.
Even so, analysts aren't worried about RFK Jr.'s push to ban soda from SNAP. Jefferies analyst Kaumil Gajrawala just reiterated a Buy rating and $83 price target for KO stock, suggesting a 17.08% upside for the shares.
KO stock dipped 0.32% on Thursday but remains up 14.81% year-to-date.
Is Coca-Cola Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, the analysts' consensus rating for Coca-Cola is Strong Buy, based on 15 Buy and one Hold rating over the past three months. With that comes an average KO stock price target of $79.33, representing a potential 11.97% upside for the shares.
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