The Ultimate Dividend Growth stock to Buy With $1,000 Right Now.
The market is trading near all-time highs despite numerous potential risks. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of financial giant JPMorgan Chase (JPM +0.10%), has warned that “geopolitical tensions and wars, sticky inflation, large global fiscal deficits and elevated asset prices” are “tectonic plates” that could collide and wreak havoc on the market. In this environment, it probably pays to add some safety to your portfolio.
If you are a dividend growth aficionado, the ultimate stock to consider right now could be Coca-Cola (KO +0.22%). A $1,000 investment will get you around 11 shares. But as a business, it offers so much “value” that it can’t be ignored. Here’s why now is a good time to buy one of the world’s largest consumer staples companies.
Image source: Getty Images.
Why Coca-Cola is worth buying today
The first reason to like Coca-Cola is pretty simple: drinking is a necessity of life. Nobody needs to drink the sodas and other relatively expensive beverages Coca-Cola sells; they could just drink tap water. But in the grand scheme of things, Coca-Cola’s products aren’t that expensive. They are easy to justify as affordable luxuries. Tap water is fine, but a Coke is way more enjoyable for most people. And even during hard times, the financial burden of enjoying a Coke isn’t likely to break the bank.
The financial burden of buying soda is especially important today, because inflation is high and consumers are tightening their budgets. Add in a consumer shift toward healthier eating, and you might expect Coca-Cola’s business to be underperforming. However, that’s not the case. In the second quarter of 2026, organic sales growth came in at 6%. That was more than twice the growth rate of competitor PepsiCo (PEP -2.92%).
Notably, Coca-Cola’s organic sales advance in the second quarter wasn’t just about price increases. Case volume rose 5% in the quarter, indicating strong demand for Coke products. This highlights two other key positives: Consumers have material brand loyalty to Coca-Cola, and they buy the company’s products regularly. If you are worried about the market and the economy, Coca-Cola is the kind of business you want to own.
Today’s Change
(0.22%) $0.19
Current Price
$88.25
Key Data Points
Market Cap
Day’s Range
$87.52 – $88.28
52wk Range
$65.35 – $92.49
Volume
28M
Avg Vol
16.8M
Gross Margin
61.95%
Dividend Yield
2.38%
Coca-Cola has been rewarding dividend investors well for decades
Coca-Cola’s dividend has been increased annually for a huge 63 consecutive years. That makes the company a Dividend King. You don’t create a record like that by accident; it requires a strong business model that gets executed well in good times and bad. That said, the commitment to dividends here is impressive and has survived through numerous bear markets and recessions. It seems highly likely that dividend growth investors will continue to be rewarded for years to come.
And Coca-Cola’s 2.4% dividend yield is rather attractive right now. By comparison, the S&P 500 index (^GSPC +0.17%) offers a yield of only around 1%. The average consumer staples stock’s yield is roughly 2.1%. So you aren’t sacrificing yield to buy Coca-Cola. That said, recent history suggests that dividend growth will probably be in the mid-single digits. There are definitely stocks with faster-growing dividends out there, but when you add the consistency of Coca-Cola’s business and dividend to its above-average yield, the dividend growth story becomes much more compelling amid heightened market and economic uncertainty.
Coca-Cola isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s probably still worth owning
The one caveat is that reliable dividend growth stocks that are performing well in the face of adversity aren’t likely to be put on the sale rack. Coca-Cola’s price-to-sales ratio is a bit above its five-year average. The price-to-earnings ratio is roughly in line with its longer-term average. And the price-to-book ratio is slightly below its five-year average. All in, it looks like Coca-Cola is fairly priced to a little expensive. But, for a conservative dividend growth investor, that’s probably a reasonable, if not attractive, entry point given the current market and economic environment.
