National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) Trading Down 4.9% After Earnings Miss

National Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ:FIZZ) fell 4.9% on Friday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as low as $38.51 and last traded at $39.27. 33,488 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 178,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.31.

The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $267.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $282.22 million. National Beverage had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 42.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of National Beverage from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other National Beverage news, Director Cecil D. Conlee sold 2,736 shares of National Beverage stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.01, for a total value of $128,619.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,744 shares in the company, valued at $2,526,505.44. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 74.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Beverage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in National Beverage by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in National Beverage by 3.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in National Beverage by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in National Beverage by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in National Beverage by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. 23.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

National Beverage Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.87.

National Beverage Company Profile

National Beverage Corp., through its subsidiaries, develops, produces, markets, and sells a portfolio of sparkling waters, juices, energy drinks, and carbonated soft drinks primarily in the United States and Canada. The company's Power+ brand portfolio offers sparkling water products under the LaCroix, LaCroix Cúrate, and LaCroix NiCola; non-carbonated flavored water under the Clear Fruit; energy drink and shots under the Rip It; juice and juice-based products under Everfresh, Everfresh Premier Varietals, and Mr.