Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 4,607 Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STZ. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 13.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 7.2% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 24,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,425,000 after buying an additional 1,681 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 42.5% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 3,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Constellation Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $815,000. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 12.4% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Constellation Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $214.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $261.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.41.

Constellation Brands Price Performance

Constellation Brands stock opened at $177.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.78, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $177.32 and a 200-day moving average of $217.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.46 and a 52-week high of $274.87.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last released 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). Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 6.27%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.5 EPS for the current year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William T. Giles purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $186.39 per share, with a total value of $186,390.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,688.57. This represents a 215.98 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Constellation Brands

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.