BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) Now Covered by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR) in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on BellRing Brands from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on BellRing Brands from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised their price target 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. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of BellRing Brands in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.13.

BellRing Brands Stock Performance

NYSE BRBR opened at $73.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.71, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.87. BellRing Brands has a 52-week low of $48.06 and a 52-week high of $80.67.

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

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert V. Vitale sold 79,068 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 982,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,707,670.24. This represents a 7.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 218,636 shares of company stock valued at $16,677,550 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BellRing Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRBR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in BellRing Brands by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,949,000 after purchasing an additional 333,287 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BellRing Brands by 152.0% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,264,000 after buying an additional 10,117 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of BellRing Brands by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,886,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,001,000 after acquiring an additional 50,339 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BellRing Brands in the third quarter valued at about $439,000. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of BellRing Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $549,000. 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.