Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.8947.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MNST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MNST opened at $86.79 on Friday. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $88.77. The stock has a market cap of $84.88 billion, a PE ratio of 41.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.60 and a 200 day moving average of $77.26.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The business had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Monster Beverage will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total value of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 62,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. This trade represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CI Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 6,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

About Monster Beverage

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.