Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Raises Stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,471 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of STZ. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Constellation Brands by 1,844.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 924,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,265,000 after purchasing an additional 876,745 shares during the period. Copperleaf Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $343,000. Grimes & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,099,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Constellation Brands by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,663,000 after acquiring an additional 6,391 shares during the period. Finally, Southern Style Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Constellation Brands during the fourth quarter worth $3,074,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William T. Giles acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $186.39 per share, for a total transaction of $186,390.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,688.57. The trade was a 215.98 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 12.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Constellation Brands Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:STZ opened at $184.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.32 billion, a PE ratio of 49.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.75. The company’s 50 day moving average is $177.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.45. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.46 and a 52 week high of $274.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.01 dividend. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Constellation Brands from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $205.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $202.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $203.00 target price (down previously from $262.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Constellation Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $249.18.

Constellation Brands Company 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.