KO vs PEP
A drinks-only giant against a drinks-and-snacks giant — both consumer-staples Dividend Kings with 50+ year raise streaks. Here’s how KO and PEP compare for dividend investors — with a calculator for each so you can model the income yourself.
KO
The Coca-Cola Company
- Type
- Dividend-king stock
- Issuer
- Coca-Cola
- Pays
- quarterly
Coca-Cola is a Dividend King, having raised its dividend for more than 60 consecutive years. It is a defensive consumer-staples blue chip widely held for reliable, slowly growing income.
KO dividend calculatorPEP
PepsiCo, Inc.
- Type
- Dividend-king stock
- Issuer
- PepsiCo
- Pays
- quarterly
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage company whose brands span soft drinks, snacks, and packaged foods. It is a Dividend King, having raised its dividend for more than 50 consecutive years, and is held as a defensive consumer-staples income stock.
PEP dividend calculatorKO vs PEP dividend, side by side
Current dividend figures for KO and PEP as of Oct 13, 2026. Yields and payouts change — verify the latest numbers with your broker before investing.
KO vs PEP at a glance
| KO | PEP | |
|---|---|---|
| What it sells | Drinks only | Drinks and snack foods |
| Quarterly dividend (2026) | $0.53 | $1.48 |
| Trailing dividend yield | 2.36% (Oct 13, 2026) | 4.67% (Oct 13, 2026) |
| Years of dividend raises | 64 | 54 |
| Dividend growth, 2015 to 2025 | 4.4% a year | 7.4% a year |
| Latest quarter | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 |
| Organic revenue growth | 6% | 3.1% |
| Operating margin | 34.9% | 16.9% |
| Adjusted EPS growth | 11% (comparable) | 2% (core) |
| 2026 adjusted EPS outlook | Raised to +9% to +10% | Cut to +2.5% to +3.5% |
Dividends are per share, grouped by ex-dividend date and checked against public payment records. Business figures come from each company’s latest quarterly results.
Two different businesses
Coca-Cola sells only drinks. PepsiCo sells drinks too, but a large part of its business is snack foods, which it calls convenient foods. That shows up in the numbers. PepsiCo’s third-quarter 2026 revenue was $25.27 billion, almost twice Coca-Cola’s $13.4 billion in its second quarter. But Coca-Cola kept far more of each dollar as operating profit: a 34.9% margin against PepsiCo’s 16.9%.
Who pays a better dividend, Coke or Pepsi?
By yield, PepsiCo. Over the 12 months to Oct 13, 2026, PEP yielded about 4.67% and KO about 2.36%. On $10,000 that is roughly $467 a year from PepsiCo against $236 from Coca-Cola.
Both raised their dividend in early 2026 by about 4%. Coca-Cola went from $0.51 to $0.53 a quarter, its 64th yearly raise in a row. PepsiCo went from $1.4225 to $1.48, its 54th. Both are Dividend Kings, with more than 50 years of raises.
Dividend growth over ten years
PepsiCo has grown its dividend faster. From 2015 to 2025 its yearly payout rose from $2.7625 to $5.6225 a share, about 7.4% a year. Coca-Cola’s rose from $1.32 to $2.04, about 4.4% a year.
PepsiCo’s total grew faster in every one of those ten years. The widest gap was in 2018, when PepsiCo’s payout rose 13.26% and Coca-Cola’s 5.41%. The closest was 2025: 5.49% for PepsiCo against 5.15% for Coca-Cola.
Earnings and outlook in 2026
Coca-Cola’s latest numbers were stronger. Its comparable earnings per share rose 11% in the second quarter, to $0.97, and organic revenue grew 6%. In July it raised its 2026 forecast to 9% to 10% growth in comparable EPS. It expects about $12.4 billion of free cash flow.
PepsiCo’s core EPS rose only 2% in the third quarter, to $2.34, on 3.1% organic revenue growth. In October it cut its 2026 core EPS forecast to growth of 2.5% to 3.5%, down from the low end of 5% to 7%. It still plans to return $8.9 billion to shareholders in 2026: $7.9 billion in dividends and $1.0 billion in buybacks.
Which is better, PepsiCo or Coca-Cola?
This page does not give advice. PepsiCo offers the higher yield and the faster dividend growth of the past decade. Coca-Cola has the longer raise streak, wider margins and, in 2026, faster earnings growth. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owned 400 million Coca-Cola shares at the end of June 2026.
Dividend histories come from the researched KO and PEP guides, each checked against three public payment records. Business figures and outlooks come from each company’s latest quarterly results filed with the SEC. Last checked Oct 16, 2026. Sources: SEC — Coca-Cola second-quarter 2026 results (Jul 28, 2026); SEC — PepsiCo third-quarter 2026 results (Oct 8, 2026); stockanalysis.com — KO dividend history; stockanalysis.com — PEP dividend history. Past returns do not predict future ones. Not financial advice.
Related dividend guides
How KO and PEP differ
KO — Coca-Cola is a Dividend King, having raised its dividend for more than 60 consecutive years. It is a defensive consumer-staples blue chip widely held for reliable, slowly growing income.
PEP — PepsiCo is a global food and beverage company whose brands span soft drinks, snacks, and packaged foods. It is a Dividend King, having raised its dividend for more than 50 consecutive years, and is held as a defensive consumer-staples income stock.
In practice the choice comes down to your goal. KO suits an investor who wants a decades-long record of dividend increases from a single blue-chip company, while PEP suits one who wants a decades-long record of dividend increases from a single blue-chip company. The two are not mutually exclusive — plenty of portfolios hold a growth-oriented fund and an income-oriented one together. What matters is matching each to its job and not judging a fund on its headline yield alone.
Rather than compare a single snapshot yield (which moves daily), open each calculator and enter current figures: the KO calculator and the PEP calculator. To compare long-term compounding head to head, run the same contributions through the dividend reinvestment calculator with each fund’s assumptions.
KO vs PEP FAQ
- Is KO stock a good long-term investment?
- No one can promise that. Coca-Cola has raised its dividend for 64 years in a row and raised its 2026 earnings forecast in July. Its yield is lower than PepsiCo’s.
- Is PepsiCo or Coca-Cola a Dividend King?
- Both are. Coca-Cola has 64 straight years of dividend raises and PepsiCo 54. A Dividend King needs at least 50.
- What KO or PEP stake pays $1,000 a month?
- At trailing yields from Oct 13, 2026, about $508,475 in KO or $256,959 in PEP, before taxes. Both pay quarterly.
- What's the main difference between KO and PEP?
- KO is a dividend-king stock from Coca-Cola; PEP is a dividend-king stock from PepsiCo. A drinks-only giant against a drinks-and-snacks giant — both consumer-staples Dividend Kings with 50+ year raise streaks.
- Does KO or PEP pay more dividends?
- As of Oct 13, 2026, KO yields about 2.36% and PEP about 4.67%, so PEP currently pays the higher yield. KO pays quarterly; PEP pays quarterly. Yields move daily, so verify current figures and use the calculators below to model the income yourself. Higher-yield funds pay more today, while dividend-growth funds start lower and raise the payout over time.
- Which is better, KO or PEP?
- Neither is universally better — they suit different goals. KO fits an investor who wants a decades-long record of dividend increases from a single blue-chip company; PEP fits one who wants a decades-long record of dividend increases from a single blue-chip company. Match the fund to your objective, time horizon, and tax situation, and consider a licensed advisor.
- Can I hold both KO and PEP?
- Many investors do, to blend current income with growth. Just be aware of overlap — if both hold similar large-cap US stocks, you may be less diversified than the two tickers suggest.