Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR)

Analysts at Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.22% from the stock’s previous close.

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

BellRing Brands Trading Down 0.0 %

BRBR opened at $73.54 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.51 and its 200-day moving average is $70.85. The stock has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.85. BellRing Brands has a twelve month low of $48.06 and a twelve month high of $80.67.

BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. BellRing Brands had a negative return on equity of 130.14% and a net margin of 13.32%. As a group, analysts forecast that BellRing Brands will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

BellRing Brands announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at BellRing Brands

In other BellRing Brands news, Director Robert V. Vitale sold 79,068 shares of BellRing Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.04, for a total transaction of $6,091,398.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 982,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,707,670.24. The trade was a 7.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,636 shares of company stock valued at $16,677,550. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BellRing Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in BellRing Brands by 35.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,949,000 after buying an additional 333,287 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in BellRing Brands by 152.0% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 10,117 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of BellRing Brands by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,886,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,001,000 after purchasing an additional 50,339 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BellRing Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $439,000. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of BellRing Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $549,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.97% of the company’s stock.

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.