BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Equities researchers at Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.88% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on BRBR. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of BellRing Brands from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of BellRing Brands in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of BellRing Brands from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BellRing Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.13.

BellRing Brands Price Performance

Shares of BRBR stock opened at $70.66 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.17, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.85. BellRing Brands has a 1-year low of $48.06 and a 1-year high of $80.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.61.

BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. BellRing Brands had a net margin of 13.32% and a negative return on equity of 130.14%. Analysts expect that BellRing Brands will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BellRing Brands declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 6th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert V. Vitale sold 28,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.91, for a total transaction of $2,188,320.23. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,110,004 shares in the company, valued at $85,370,407.64. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 218,636 shares of company stock worth $16,677,550 over the last ninety days. 1.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BellRing Brands

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in BellRing Brands by 69.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 571 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in BellRing Brands in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new stake in BellRing Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in BellRing Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in BellRing Brands by 747.7% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. 94.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BellRing Brands Company Profile

BellRing Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various nutrition products in the United States. The company offers ready-to-drink (RTD) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars, and other products primarily under the Premier Protein and Dymatize brands. It distributes its products through club, food, drug, mass, eCommerce, specialty, and convenience channels.