Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Nestle (OTCMKTS:NSRGY) to Hold

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has upgraded Nestle (OTCMKTS:NSRGY) from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a more favorable outlook for the company.
• BNP Paribas has also adjusted its rating for Nestle to "hold," while Morgan Stanley downgraded it to "underweight" with a price target of $91.00, indicating some mixed sentiments from analysts.
• Recent institutional activity shows a number of hedge funds increasing their stakes in Nestle, highlighting continued investment interest despite the rating fluctuations.

Nestle (OTCMKTS:NSRGY - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on NSRGY. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Nestle from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Nestle from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.00.

Nestle Price Performance

Shares of NSRGY opened at $86.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average is $100.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.49. Nestle has a twelve month low of $80.11 and a twelve month high of $109.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Nestle by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 1,011,125 shares of the company's stock worth $102,296,000 after buying an additional 23,692 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Nestle by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 983,326 shares of the company's stock worth $99,294,000 after buying an additional 100,767 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Nestle by 23,819.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 417,630 shares of the company's stock worth $42,252,000 after buying an additional 415,884 shares in the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Nestle by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock worth $8,239,000 after buying an additional 2,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Nestle by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 75,388 shares of the company's stock worth $7,627,000 after buying an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nestle Company Profile

Nestlé SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food and beverage company. The company operates through Zone North America; Zone Europe; Zone Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Zone Latin America; Zone Greater China; Nespresso; and Nestlé Health Science segments. It offers baby foods under the Cerelac, Gerber, Nido, and NaturNes brands; bottled water under the Nestlé Pure Life, Perrier, Vittel, Buxton, Erikli, and S.Pellegrino brands; cereals under the Fitness, Nesquik, cheerios, and Lion Cereals brands; and chocolate and confectionery products under the KitKat, Smarties, Aero, Nestlé Les Recettes de l'Atelier, Milkybar, Baci Perugina, Quality Street, and Fitness brands.

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