Bank Of America Downgraded Dr Pepper Snapple; What's Another Hot Beverage Name?

Bank of America analyst Bryan D. Spillane on Monday downgraded Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. DPS, from Neutral to Underperform. He raised the price target -- for the second time in less than 30 days -- from $75.00 to $76.00.

Dr Pepper Snapple recently traded at $71.24, down 0.2 percent.

Other Players

Within the beverage space, analysts seem to agree regarding Monster Beverage Corp MNST, a producer of energy drinks and other alternative beverages.

Related Link: Bank Of America Upgrades Dr Pepper Snapple; Analysts Still Prefer Other Soft Drinks

Most recently, CLSA upgraded Monster Beverage from Outperform to Buy. RBC Capital removed the stock from its Top Picks list, but still issued an Outperform rating accompanied by a $121 price target, which implies an upside of more than 10 percent from Monday’s closing price of $109.43.

Stifel Nicolaus (Buy) and Credit Suisse (Outperform) both set their price targets for the stock at $115 on November 7 (when the stock opened barely above $100).

The Impact Of Oil Prices

According to a recent Morgan Stanley report, Monster Beverage could be among the most benefited by the fall in oil prices. Given that approximately three-fourths of the company’s sales come from gas stations and convenience stores, cheaper oil may impact on how much money consumers have left to spend on other goods, like energy drinks.