COCA COLA CO (KO) — payout ratio, three ways

Fiscal year ending 2025-12-31 · sector Consumer staples · trailing yield 2.24% on $91.10 (2026-08-22) · payout ratios computed from SEC filings, not taken from a data vendor.

The yield is the only figure here not taken from a filing: the dividend comes from the 10-K, the price from a market data source on 2026-08-22. It is a trailing yield — the dividend declared over the last full fiscal year against a current price — so a company that has since raised or cut is not reflected until it files again.

Basis	Payout	Why it differs
GAAP earnings	67.1%	The figure most screeners publish.
Operating cash flow	118.5%	Worse than the earnings figure, not better: operating cash flow absorbs working capital — inventory, receivables, payables — that earnings do not.
Free cash flow	165.8%	What is left after maintaining the business.

Spread between highest and lowest: 99 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.

Coverage rating 5 / 100 — Not covered. ? Peer standing 1/50Direction 0/30Stability 4/20

Free cash flow payout, last 6 years

Fiscal year	Payout
2025-12-31	165.8%
2024-12-31	176.3%
2023-12-31	81.6%
2022-12-31	79.9%
2021-12-31	64.4%
2020-12-31	81.3%

Among the 38 consumer staples companies here, only 3% pay out a larger share on this basis — this is at the demanding end.

The arithmetic

GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $2.04 ÷ diluted EPS $3.04
Operating cash flow — dividends paid $8,779.0m ÷ operating cash flow $7,408.0m
Free cash flow — dividends paid $8,779.0m ÷ (operating cash flow $7,408.0m − capex $2,112.0m)

Where the figures came from

10-K filed 2026-02-20 · accession 0001628280-26-010047

Every one is public at sec.gov and free to check. That is the point — you should not have to take my word for any of it.

Computed by an open pipeline reading SEC XBRL directly. If any number here looks wrong to you, tell me — that is more useful to me than agreement.