Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Position in Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 284,883 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,268 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Molson Coors Beverage were worth $15,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TAP. FMR LLC raised its position in Molson Coors Beverage by 23.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 716,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,202,000 after acquiring an additional 134,689 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 32,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 6,503 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 927.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 79,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 71,870 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its stake in Molson Coors Beverage by 116.1% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 11,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 5,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Molson Coors Beverage by 7,317.3% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 15,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 15,659 shares during the period. 78.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TAP has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Molson Coors Beverage from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Molson Coors Beverage from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Molson Coors Beverage from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Molson Coors Beverage in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Molson Coors Beverage from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.60.

Molson Coors Beverage Stock Up 0.7 %

TAP stock opened at $60.95 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.22 and its 200 day moving average is $57.76. The stock has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Molson Coors Beverage has a 1-year low of $49.19 and a 1-year high of $69.18.

Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.13. Molson Coors Beverage had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.71 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Molson Coors Beverage will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Molson Coors Beverage Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. This is a positive change from Molson Coors Beverage’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Molson Coors Beverage’s payout ratio is 35.14%.

Molson Coors Beverage Profile

Molson Coors Beverage Company manufactures, markets, and sells beer and other malt beverage products under various brands in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers flavored malt beverages including hard seltzers, craft, spirits and energy, and ready to drink beverages.