Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Reaches New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Monster Beverage shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $89.50 after closing previously at $87.42, signaling strong recent momentum in the stock.
• The company delivered a solid earnings beat, reporting $0.58 EPS on $2.32 billion in revenue, both above analyst expectations, with revenue up 22.6% year over year.
• Sentiment remains broadly positive: analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy, and Monster also authorized a $500 million share buyback even as some insiders recently sold shares.

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $89.50 and last traded at $89.5440, with a volume of 487467 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $87.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MNST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Monster Beverage from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monster Beverage currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.89.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is $78.00 and its 200 day moving average is $77.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.53 billion, a PE ratio of 43.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.50.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. Monster Beverage's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total value of $857,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at $6,152,959.62. This represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 in the last three months. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in Monster Beverage by 112.3% in the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 541,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,204,000 after purchasing an additional 286,192 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth $5,276,000. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth $2,261,000. Western Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Monster Beverage by 0.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,532,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $908,102,000 after purchasing an additional 99,168 shares during the period. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

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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