Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZFree Report) in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $240.00 price target on the stock.

STZ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com lowered Constellation Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Constellation Brands from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Argus downgraded shares of Constellation Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $280.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Constellation Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.14.

View Our Latest Analysis on STZ

Constellation Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE STZ opened at $182.41 on Monday. Constellation Brands has a 52-week low of $176.51 and a 52-week high of $274.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $32.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $218.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.16.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. Constellation Brands had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 26.55%. Constellation Brands’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. Analysts expect that Constellation Brands will post 13.52 EPS for the current year.

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.01 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Constellation Brands’s payout ratio is 108.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Constellation Brands

In related news, CEO William A. Newlands sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $6,089,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 7,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,771,800.92. This represents a 77.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP James A. Jr. Sabia sold 36,086 shares of Constellation Brands stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.99, for a total transaction of $8,768,537.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,898,045.58. This trade represents a 69.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,746 shares of company stock worth $15,017,097 over the last quarter. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Constellation Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STZ. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 1,844.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 924,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,265,000 after acquiring an additional 876,745 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 23,184.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 499,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,765,000 after acquiring an additional 497,543 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 6.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,144,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,048,000 after purchasing an additional 402,211 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 369,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,762,000 after purchasing an additional 147,457 shares during the period. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 617.3% during the third quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 108,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,929,000 after purchasing an additional 93,273 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Constellation Brands Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ)

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