Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

by · The Markets Daily

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST – Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 38,435,879 shares, a growth of 109.4% from the July 30th total of 18,354,341 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,315,301 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MNST traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.86. 5,279,491 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,617,248. The company has a market cap of $91.80 billion, a PE ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.07. Monster Beverage has a 12 month low of $30.88 and a 12 month high of $50.17.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 23.08% and a return on equity of 26.02%. Monster Beverage’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Monster Beverage

In related news, CEO Guy Carling sold 38,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total value of $1,727,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 43,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,987,346.70. The trade was a 46.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 8,682.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 107,690,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,351,252,000 after buying an additional 106,464,724 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth $5,770,004,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Monster Beverage in the 2nd quarter worth $1,195,360,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $691,104,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the 2nd quarter valued at about $593,075,000. 72.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MNST shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.50 price target (down from $97.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $45.00 to $47.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Monster Beverage from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Monster Beverage in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.33.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MNST

About Monster Beverage

(Get Free Report)

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) is an American beverage company best known for its Monster Energy brand of energy drinks. The company’s product portfolio centers on carbonated energy beverages and a range of complementary ready-to-drink offerings, including energy coffees, hydration beverages and other flavored functional drinks. Monster markets multiple sub-brands and flavor variants to address different consumer segments and consumption occasions.

Originally organized around the Hansen’s Natural line of juices and sodas, the company pivoted toward the energy drink category and formally adopted the Monster Beverage name in the early 2010s to reflect its strategic focus.

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