Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Key Points

• UBS Group raised its price target on Monster Beverage to $104 from $84, while keeping a neutral rating. The new target implies modest upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive overall, with several firms recently lifting targets and ratings. MarketBeat data shows 14 Buy ratings and 8 Hold ratings, with a consensus Moderate Buy and average target of $93.35.
• Monster Beverage has strong recent fundamentals and capital actions, including quarterly EPS of $0.58 and revenue of $2.32 billion, both above expectations. The company also announced a 2-for-1 stock split and a $500 million share repurchase authorization.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $84.00 to $104.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 4.40% from the company's previous close.

MNST has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Evercore upped their price objective on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Tuesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Monster Beverage from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $103.00 price target on shares of Monster Beverage and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.35.

Monster Beverage Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of MNST stock traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $99.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 200,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,754,947. The stock has a market cap of $97.42 billion, a PE ratio of 48.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.53. Monster Beverage has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $99.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $91.27 and a 200 day moving average of $82.62.

Shares of Monster Beverage are set to split on Tuesday, August 11th. The 2-1 split was announced on Wednesday, July 8th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Monday, August 10th.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.11% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In other Monster Beverage news, CFO Thomas J. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.81, for a total transaction of $614,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 62,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,492,778.93. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. The trade was a 12.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 178,700 shares of company stock worth $15,457,562 over the last 90 days. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MNST. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Monster Beverage by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 355 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 1,338.7% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 446 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 355.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 474 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Monster Beverage in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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