ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Takes Position in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,420,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of STZ. Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 77.5% during the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 6,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,356,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 5,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,304,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 57,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,743,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. 77.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on STZ. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Constellation Brands from $280.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $203.00 price objective (down from $262.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Constellation Brands from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Roth Capital lowered their target price on Constellation Brands from $298.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Constellation Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.29.

Constellation Brands Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of STZ stock opened at $169.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.46, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $198.25 and a 200-day moving average of $227.06. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.46 and a 1-year high of $274.87.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $3.25 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 business earned $3.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.