Constellation Brands’ (STZ) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $280.00 target price on the stock.

STZ has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Constellation Brands from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Cowen cut Constellation Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $300.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $309.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Constellation Brands from $305.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $298.00 price objective on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Friday, October 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.70.

Constellation Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STZ opened at $227.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.37. Constellation Brands has a 52 week low of $224.76 and a 52 week high of $274.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.90.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 3rd. The company reported $4.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.08 by $0.24. Constellation Brands had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 25.34%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Constellation Brands will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $1.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Constellation Brands’s payout ratio is 130.74%.

Insider Transactions at Constellation Brands

In other news, EVP James A. Jr. Sabia sold 36,086 shares of Constellation Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.99, for a total transaction of $8,768,537.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,042 shares in the company, valued at $3,898,045.58. The trade was a 69.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Wildstar Partners Llc sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total transaction of $159,060.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,736,884 shares in the company, valued at $418,589,044. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,956 shares of company stock valued at $46,058,091 in the last 90 days. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Constellation Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Constellation Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 50.0% in the second quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Constellation Brands during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Constellation Brands during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. 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.