Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 38,542 Shares of Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 748,011 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,542 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.36% of Molson Coors Beverage worth $42,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Molson Coors Beverage by 8.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,792,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,727,000 after purchasing an additional 681,757 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,535,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,661,000 after purchasing an additional 434,250 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Molson Coors Beverage in the fourth quarter worth $142,407,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Molson Coors Beverage by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,684,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,562,000 after acquiring an additional 33,234 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake in Molson Coors Beverage by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 880,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,472,000 after purchasing an additional 42,530 shares in the last quarter. 78.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Molson Coors Beverage Price Performance

TAP stock opened at $61.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.91. The stock has a market cap of $12.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.81. Molson Coors Beverage has a one year low of $49.19 and a one year high of $69.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.71 billion. Molson Coors Beverage had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 8.17%. On average, analysts predict that Molson Coors Beverage will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Molson Coors Beverage Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This is an increase from Molson Coors Beverage’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. Molson Coors Beverage’s payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TAP. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Molson Coors Beverage from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup raised shares of Molson Coors Beverage from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Molson Coors Beverage from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Molson Coors Beverage from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised Molson Coors Beverage from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $57.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.06.

About Molson Coors Beverage

Molson Coors Beverage Company manufactures, markets, and sells beer and other malt beverage products under various brands in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers flavored malt beverages including hard seltzers, craft, spirits and energy, and ready to drink beverages.