Paloma Partners Management Co Boosts Stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its stake in shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 568.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,512 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $7,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Constellation Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $119,394,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 318.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after buying an additional 7,752 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,132,000. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 30,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,772,000 after buying an additional 6,867 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Constellation Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $561,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on STZ. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Constellation Brands from $309.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $261.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 price objective on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $255.00 target price (down previously from $300.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, October 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $289.16.

Insider Activity

In other Constellation Brands news, major shareholder Wildstar Partners Llc sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total transaction of $159,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,736,884 shares in the company, valued at $418,589,044. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Sands sold 119,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.37, for a total transaction of $28,908,439.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 431,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,638,157.73. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,956 shares of company stock valued at $46,058,091 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:STZ opened at $240.95 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $246.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $43.75 billion, a PE ratio of 77.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.90. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.76 and a 1-year high of $274.87.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 3rd. The company reported $4.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.08 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Constellation Brands had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 25.34%. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.57 EPS for the current year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a $1.01 dividend. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 130.74%.

Constellation Brands Profile

Constellation Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces, imports, markets, and sells beer, wine, and spirits in the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. The company provides beer primarily under the Corona Extra, Corona Familiar, Corona Hard Seltzer, Corona Light, Corona Non-Alcoholic, Corona Premier, Corona Refresca, Modelo Especial, Modelo Chelada, Modelo Negra, Modelo Oro, Victoria, Vicky Chamoy, and Pacifico brands.