Sanford C. Bernstein Initiates Coverage on Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST)

Key Points

• Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Monster Beverage with a market perform rating and a $95 price target, implying about 3.23% upside from the current price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally constructive: multiple firms recently adjusted targets, and MarketBeat says Monster has 14 Buy ratings and 8 Hold ratings with a consensus Moderate Buy and average target of $89.35.
• Monster reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, with EPS of $0.58 versus estimates of $0.53 and revenue of $2.32 billion versus expectations of $2.16 billion, while its board also authorized a $500 million share repurchase program.

Investment analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "market perform" rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein's price objective suggests a potential upside of 3.23% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MNST. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Monster Beverage from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Evercore lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Monster Beverage from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.35.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.9%

MNST opened at $92.03 on Friday. Monster Beverage has a 12 month low of $58.09 and a 12 month high of $92.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.16. The stock has a market cap of $90.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.54.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 23.11%.The company's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Monster Beverage will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark J. Hall sold 54,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.81, for a total value of $4,633,740.00. Following the sale, the director owned 299,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,678,299.26. The trade was a 15.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Emelie Tirre sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.74, for a total transaction of $857,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,152,959.62. This represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 159,700 shares of company stock valued at $13,730,462 over the last 90 days. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monster Beverage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 637,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,844,000 after purchasing an additional 21,169 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,605,873 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,303,000 after purchasing an additional 116,510 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 880,061 shares of the company's stock worth $67,738,000 after acquiring an additional 95,606 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,483,584 shares of the company's stock worth $4,542,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 357,025 shares of the company's stock worth $24,031,000 after acquiring an additional 57,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company's stock.

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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