The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) shares have been stuck in a prolonged rut. During the last ten years, the average return has come to a mere 6.21%. By comparison, the S&P 500 posted an average gain of 15.59%. KO stock just hasn’t been getting it done.

So why the lackluster performance of Coca-Cola? Well, perhaps the biggest reason is that the company’s market is mature. In fact, PepsiCo, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:PEP) 10-year return is in line with that of KO stock.

But there are other notable reasons for the weakness. For example, there continues to be a trend towards healthier habits. Based on research from Beverage Digest, the sales of carbonated drinks have declined roughly 15% from 2005 to 2015.

But despite all this, there are reasons to be bullish on KO stock as well. Note that the company recently hired a new CEO, James Quincey, who is focused on making the company more agile and entrepreneurial. And before he came on board, KO had already been engaged in major changes.

OK then, so let’s take a look at some of the bullish factors for KO stock:

KO Stock Advantage #1 – Powerful Competitive Advantages

KO is the world’s largest beverage operator. Because of this massive scale, the company has the benefits of lower costs, extensive distribution and premium pricing. Such factors are incredibly difficult to replicate.

Note that KO has 21 billion-dollar brands, such as Sprite, Minute Maid, Dasani and Fuze Tea. The company also has 15 others that post sales of $500 million to $1 billion.

And yes, the Coca Cola brand is one of the world’s most valuable. According to Forbes.com, Coke is ranked No. 5 and the estimated value is $56.4 billion.

Coca-Cola Stock Advantage #2 – Focused On Growth

It is unrealistic to expect KO to suddenly achieve robust growth rates. But given the size of the global market, there are tremendous revenue opportunities. After all, the projected annual growth rate is about 4%, which means the addition of $150 billion in growth by 2020.

No doubt, KO is working hard to get an out-sized portion of this. So the company has been aggressive with its product line. For the past couple years, it has been launching 500+ new products.

There are also opportunities to capitalize on the growth in the market for healthier items. Just look at the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar drink, which has seen strong uptake with customers. This shows that a healthy product can still taste great (Coca-Cola Zero Sugar gets its sweetness from ingredients like aspartame and acesulfame K).

Dealmaking is also likely another factor that should help boost growth for Coca-Cola stock. The focus is on building a platform that allows the company to benefit from the eight most common beverages a person drinks every day. So to this end, KO has acquired companies like Honest Tea and Topo Chico (which is a premium sparkling mineral water).

What’s more, there have been creative partnership deals, such as with McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) and Dunkin Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DNKN).

Coca-Cola Stock Advantage #3 – Cash Flows and The Dividend

The cash generating capabilities of KO are impressive. During the first nine months of last year, the company posted $5.9 billion in cash from operations.

And there should be continued increases over time. Consider that the company has pulled off a massive refranchising of its bottling system, which will boost margins. There have also been ongoing cost cutting and efficiency initiatives.

Finally, KO has been fairly shareholder friendly. For the year so far, the company has repurchased $3.1 billion in stock. And yes, the dividend is at an attractive 3.25%. Actually, there have been increases on KO stock for an amazing 55 consecutive years.

Tom Taulli is the author of High-Profit IPO Strategies, All About Commodities and All About Short Selling. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.