Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.63.

MNST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,741,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,837,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,042 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.3% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,659,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,182,000 after purchasing an additional 37,391 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 4.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,209,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,469,000 after purchasing an additional 440,962 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,478,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 93.9% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 7,477,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,519,000 after purchasing an additional 3,620,436 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:MNST opened at $50.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.36 and a 200-day moving average of $51.66. Monster Beverage has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $61.22. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.04). Monster Beverage had a net margin of 22.84% and a return on equity of 22.23%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.