Moody’s upgraded the company’s senior unsecured rating to Baa2
Molson Coors Beverage Co (NYSE:TAP) stock is unchanged in premarket trading, even after Moody’s Investors Services upgraded its senior unsecured rating to Baa2 from Baa3 and revised its outlook to positive. In its bull note, Moody’s praised TAP’s “consistent debt repayments, conservative leverage targets,” as well as its recent revenue and earnings growth.
Today’s bull note comes amid a relatively tame year for Molson Coors Beverage stock. On a year-to-date basis, TAP is up 16%, while sporting a 15% year-over-year lead. The equity’s late-July, five-year high near the $71 mark is still out of reach, with the $60 level acting as a short-term ceiling.
Coming into today, analysts were largely hesitant toward the security. In fact, 11 rated the shares a “hold,” while one said “strong sell,” and three recommended a “strong buy.” Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $66.47 is an 11.3% premium to last night’s close.
Options traders are also extremely bearish. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), TAP’s 10-day put/call volume ratio of 4.26 sits higher than all annual readings.
With that being said, weighing in on the security’s next move with options could be a good move. This is per TAP’s Schaeffer’s Volatility Index (SVI) of 19%, which ranks in the low 9th percentile of readings from the past year. In other words, options traders are pricing in low volatility expectations.