Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from 23 brokerages — 14 buy, 8 hold and 1 sell — with an average 12‑month target of $83.76.
• Several major firms have recently raised their views, including Jefferies (target raised to $100), Morgan Stanley (reaffirmed overweight, target $96) and Bank of America (target raised to $85).
• Monster beat quarterly expectations with $0.51 EPS vs. $0.49 expected and $2.10B revenue vs. $2.04B expected (revenue +17.6% YoY); the company trades at a market cap of about $70.8B and a P/E of 37.3.

Shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.7619.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Monster Beverage from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $96.00 price target (up from $87.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

Shares of MNST stock opened at $72.37 on Friday. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $54.73 and a 12-month high of $87.38. The business's 50 day moving average is $78.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.44. The company has a market capitalization of $70.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.51.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.02. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 27.38% and a net margin of 22.97%.The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Monster Beverage

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Monster Beverage by 508.1% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the third quarter worth about $29,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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