Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BYND. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Beyond Meat from $4.00 to $1.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Beyond Meat from $1.00 to $0.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Beyond Meat presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $0.83.

Beyond Meat Trading Down 1.4%

BYND stock opened at $0.76 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $393.98 million, a P/E ratio of -0.34 and a beta of 2.77. Beyond Meat has a 52 week low of $0.50 and a 52 week high of $7.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $0.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $0.86.

Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.02. Beyond Meat had a net margin of 54.95% and a negative return on equity of 54.39%. The firm had revenue of $58.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.02 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Beyond Meat will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Lubi Kutua sold 419,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.60, for a total value of $251,425.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,749,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,449,980.20. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Teri L. Witteman sold 29,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.00, for a total transaction of $29,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,178,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,178,194. This represents a 0.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Beyond Meat

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Beyond Meat by 445.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,927,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,142,000 after buying an additional 8,105,718 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Beyond Meat by 674.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 9,788,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,027,000 after buying an additional 8,525,183 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Beyond Meat by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,780,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,034,000 after buying an additional 69,423 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Beyond Meat by 497.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,383,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,774,000 after buying an additional 2,816,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Beyond Meat by 7.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,012,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 70,513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.48% of the company’s stock.

Beyond Meat Company Profile

Beyond Meat, Inc (NASDAQ: BYND) develops, manufactures and sells plant-based meat substitutes designed to replicate the taste, texture and appearance of animal-based proteins. Since its founding in 2009 by Ethan Brown and initial public offering in 2019, the company has focused on leveraging proprietary technology and ingredient blends to produce a suite of products that cater to both retail and foodservice channels. Beyond Meat’s mission centers on offering more sustainable protein options by reducing reliance on livestock farming and its associated environmental footprint.

The company’s product portfolio includes Beyond Burger, Beyond Sausage, Beyond Beef and Beyond Chicken, each formulated to appeal to a broad range of consumers seeking meat alternatives without compromising on flavor or cooking versatility.