Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (DPS), Hasbro, Inc. (HAS), and Monsanto Company (MON)
Analysts are weighing in on beverage company
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE:DPS), toy maker
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS), and agricultural issue
Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on DPS, HAS, and MON.
- DPS is trading up 0.4% at $89.33, after UBS raised its price target on the stock by $1 to $90. In addition to outperforming the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) in recent months, Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. hit an all-time high of $95.87 at the beginning of February. Still, option traders have been rather pessimistic -- at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock has a 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.79 -- higher than 85% of all readings in the past year. Meanwhile, of the 14 analysts following the equity, 11 rate it a "hold" or worse, leaving plenty of room for upgrades, which could boost the shares further.
- Barclays increased its price target on HAS to $73 from $62 after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that easily surpassed analyst predictions on Monday morning. "Star Wars" merchandise created a big boon for Hasbro, Inc., which is trading down 0.2% at $74.99 today -- paring its year-to-date gain to 11.3%. The stock could stand to benefit from more bullish analyst attention. At present, 80% of brokerage firms give the security a tepid "hold" rating. Elsewhere, it appears some option traders will be cheering today's action -- HAS holds a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 4.58 on the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX -- a ratio that ranks higher than two-thirds of comparable readings in the last 12 months.
- MON got a price-target hike to $102 from $98 at Jefferies this morning, sending the shares 0.3% higher at $91.53. Monsanto Company has been trying to stage a comeback since bouncing off the $87-$88 region in late January and early February, but the shares have were swiftly rejected by their 160-day moving average on Friday -- a trendline that halted MON's late-December advances. In the options pits, MON's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 8.12 is in the 97th percentile of is annual range, indicating pessimism has been near a yearly high in recent weeks.
Sign up now for Schaeffer's Opening View newsletter to get a head start on all the major pre-market news!