Are Coles shares an ASX buy ahead of the company’s earnings next week?

It’s been a pretty positive day for the Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price. At the closing bell, Coles shares were trading at $18.97 each, up a healthy 1.12% for the day.

That looks pretty good against the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which also rose, but by a less impressive 0.58%.

But no doubt most shareholders will be more excited, or perhaps concerned, about what is going to happen to the Coles share price next week. That’s because on 24 August, Coles is scheduled to report its full-year earnings for the 2022 financial year.

So with this big date looming, let’s examine whether the ASX experts reckon it might be a good opportunity to jump into Coles shares today before we all get a good look at the books.

Are Coles shares a pre-earnings buy today?

Well, as my Fool colleague Tristan covered earlier this month, one ASX broker who is eyeing off the company right now is Citi. The broker currently rates Coles as a ‘buy’, with a 12-month share price target of $21.

If that came to pass, it would represent an upside of almost 11% from the current share price. Citi reckons the grocer is well placed to weather the current inflationary economic environment and expects profit growth at the company.

The broker is also anticipating higher dividends from Coles going forward. It is pencilling in a final dividend of 32 cents per share from Coles next week, bringing its total for FY22 to 65 cents per share. Citi is also forecasting this to rise to 75 cents per share for FY23.

But not all ASX brokers are in unison here.

Another broker we covered earlier this month was Ord Minnet. It has a ‘lighten’ rating on Coles today, with a share price target of $17 – implying a potential downside of 10% from today’s pricing. This broker reckons dampening consumer demand will not escape Coles’ bottom line.

So a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to opinions on this ASX blue chip today. Let’s now see what happens next week.

In the meantime, the Coles share price is currently up 6% this year to date. That gives this ASX 200 consumer staples share a market capitalisation of $25.32 billion, with a dividend yield of 3.22%.

The post Are Coles shares an ASX buy ahead of the company’s earnings next week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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