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

Research analysts at Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.22% from the stock’s previous close.

BRBR has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho lifted 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. Barclays boosted their price target on BellRing Brands from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of BellRing Brands in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on 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 twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.13.

BellRing Brands Price Performance

Shares of BRBR stock opened at $73.54 on Monday. BellRing Brands has a fifty-two week low of $48.06 and a fifty-two week high of $80.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.85. The firm has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.53, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.85.

BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that BellRing Brands will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

BellRing Brands declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at BellRing Brands

In related news, Director Robert V. Vitale sold 28,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 218,636 shares of company stock valued at $16,677,550 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BellRing Brands

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BRBR. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in BellRing Brands by 69.4% in 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 period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BellRing Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new position in shares of BellRing Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BellRing Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in shares of BellRing Brands by 747.7% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.