Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on TAP. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Molson Coors Beverage in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. They issued a neutral rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Molson Coors Beverage from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet raised Molson Coors Beverage from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Molson Coors Beverage from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $68.20.

Molson Coors Beverage Price Performance

Shares of TAP opened at $64.76 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Molson Coors Beverage has a twelve month low of $55.67 and a twelve month high of $70.90. The company has a market cap of $13.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.84.

Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.07. Molson Coors Beverage had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 6.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Molson Coors Beverage will post 5.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Molson Coors Beverage Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Molson Coors Beverage’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Molson Coors Beverage’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Tracey Joubert sold 2,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.37, for a total transaction of $167,285.27. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 60,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,654,679.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 9,466.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,143,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,211,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,211 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Molson Coors Beverage during the fourth quarter worth about $127,337,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Molson Coors Beverage by 76.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,475,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,269 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,329,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,589,000 after buying an additional 1,235,013 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,446,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,194,000 after buying an additional 988,864 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.46% of the company’s stock.

About Molson Coors Beverage

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.