First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in BellRing Brands, Inc. (NYSE:BRBR)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of BellRing Brands, Inc. (NYSE:BRBR) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 219,610 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,199 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in BellRing Brands were worth $16,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRBR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BellRing Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $114,185,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of BellRing Brands by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,266,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,691 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of BellRing Brands by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,655,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,413,000 after purchasing an additional 898,885 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in BellRing Brands by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 992,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,781,000 after purchasing an additional 661,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in BellRing Brands by 4,670.5% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 434,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,706,000 after purchasing an additional 425,013 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert V. Vitale sold 44,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $3,423,545.13. Following the sale, the director now owns 938,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,608,418.09. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Douglas J. Cornille sold 3,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.13, for a total transaction of $239,814.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,345,218.68. This trade represents a 5.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 221,828 shares of company stock worth $16,917,365 in the last quarter. 1.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BRBR shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BellRing Brands from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on BellRing Brands from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on BellRing Brands from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on BellRing Brands in a report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BellRing Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.25.

BellRing Brands Stock Performance

Shares of BRBR stock opened at $75.17 on Friday. BellRing Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.06 and a fifty-two week high of $80.67. The firm has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $72.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.07.

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

BellRing Brands announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.