TD Cowen Lowers Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) to Hold

TD Cowen lowered shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $270.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $300.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Constellation Brands from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Constellation Brands from $307.00 to $293.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Constellation Brands from $305.00 to $280.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $291.06.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

NYSE STZ opened at $241.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $246.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.75. Constellation Brands has a 12-month low of $227.50 and a 12-month high of $274.87.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 3rd. The company reported $4.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.08 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 25.34% and a net margin of 5.29%. Constellation Brands’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.70 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Constellation Brands will post 13.57 EPS for the current year.

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $1.01 dividend. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.10%.

Insider Transactions at Constellation Brands

In related news, CFO Garth Hankinson sold 13,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $3,259,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,808,480. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Garth Hankinson sold 13,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $3,259,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,808,480. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel J. Mccarthy sold 1,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.43, for a total value of $468,005.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,853.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Constellation Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STZ. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Constellation Brands by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,685,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,175,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,304,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,040,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,456,892,000 after buying an additional 723,549 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $119,394,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,705,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,724,686,000 after buying an additional 462,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palestra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Constellation Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $83,195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

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.