HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in BellRing Brands, Inc. (NYSE:BRBR)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in BellRing Brands, Inc. (NYSE:BRBR) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,557 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in BellRing Brands were worth $3,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRBR. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in BellRing Brands in the third quarter valued at about $69,998,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of BellRing Brands by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 992,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,781,000 after purchasing an additional 661,774 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BellRing Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,699,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of BellRing Brands by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 6,701,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,903,000 after purchasing an additional 494,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of BellRing Brands by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,588,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,202,000 after purchasing an additional 457,796 shares in the last quarter. 94.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert V. Vitale sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.06, for a total value of $1,095,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 818,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,776,230.80. This trade represents a 1.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 218,636 shares of company stock valued at $16,677,550. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRBR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of BellRing Brands in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of BellRing Brands from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho raised 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. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.79.

BellRing Brands Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BRBR opened at $70.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 33.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.30. BellRing Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.06 and a fifty-two week high of $80.67.

BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BellRing Brands, Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

BellRing Brands announced that its board 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

BellRing Brands 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.