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

Stock analysts at Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of BellRing Brands from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BellRing Brands from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of BellRing Brands in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.13.

BellRing Brands Price Performance

Shares of BellRing Brands stock opened at $70.66 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.17, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.85. BellRing Brands has a 12 month low of $48.06 and a 12 month high of $80.67.

BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that BellRing Brands will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BellRing Brands announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 6th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert V. Vitale sold 79,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total value of $6,091,398.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 982,706 shares in the company, valued at $75,707,670.24. The trade was a 7.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 218,636 shares of company stock worth $16,677,550 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in BellRing Brands by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new position in BellRing Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in BellRing Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in BellRing Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in BellRing Brands by 747.7% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. 94.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BellRing Brands

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.