National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) Shares Climb 5.5% – Time to Buy?

National Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ:FIZZ)’s stock price rose 5.5% during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $31.90 and last traded at $32.2010. Approximately 198,927 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 351,080 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded National Beverage from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. UBS Group set a $31.00 price target on National Beverage and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Sell” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

National Beverage Stock Up 5.5%

The firm has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.07.

National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). National Beverage had a return on equity of 32.61% and a net margin of 14.81%. The company had revenue of $330.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.08 million.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FIZZ. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in National Beverage by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,374 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in National Beverage by 30.7% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 61,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 14,495 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its position in National Beverage by 98.9% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 15,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,811 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in National Beverage during the second quarter worth about $1,343,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of National Beverage in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 23.95% of the company’s stock.

About National Beverage

National Beverage Corp. is a beverage company that develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a portfolio of carbonated and noncarbonated drinks. The company is best known for its flavored sparkling water, soft drinks, energy drinks, juices and enhanced water products.

Its brand portfolio includes LaCroix sparkling water, as well as Shasta, Faygo, Rip It, Everfresh, Mr. Pure and ClearFruit. Products are sold through grocery stores, mass merchants, convenience stores, vending channels, food-service operators and other retail outlets, primarily in the United States and Canada.

National Beverage traces its corporate history to 1985 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.