Monster Beverage's (MNST) Neutral Rating Reiterated at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group has reiterated a neutral rating for Monster Beverage (MNST) and raised its price target to $67.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.29%.
• Monster Beverage's shares rose 7.7% to reach $65.50, with a market capitalization of $63.88 billion and a one-year price range between $45.19 and $66.75.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.52, beating estimates, and reflecting a year-over-year revenue growth of 11.1% to $2.11 billion.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reaffirmed by analysts at UBS Group in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $67.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $64.00. UBS Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 3.57% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MNST. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. CICC Research raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $56.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monster Beverage has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.90.

Monster Beverage Price Performance

Shares of Monster Beverage stock opened at $64.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.55. Monster Beverage has a 1-year low of $45.19 and a 1-year high of $66.75. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $61.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.05.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 28.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Monster Beverage will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.40, for a total value of $1,711,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,391,908.20. This trade represents a 28.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 8,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.46, for a total transaction of $549,398.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 89,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,590,232.46. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Monster Beverage by 11.6% in the first quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,213 shares of the company's stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 2.4% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 315,704 shares of the company's stock worth $18,475,000 after acquiring an additional 7,465 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 76.2% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 66,906 shares of the company's stock worth $3,915,000 after acquiring an additional 28,932 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 0.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289,392 shares of the company's stock worth $75,455,000 after acquiring an additional 11,443 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.8% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 423,548 shares of the company's stock worth $24,786,000 after acquiring an additional 15,493 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.