Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $202.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $220.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on STZ. Piper Sandler cut Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price target on Constellation Brands from $282.00 to $214.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $293.00 price target on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.43.

Constellation Brands Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of STZ stock opened at $175.74 on Thursday. Constellation Brands has a 12 month low of $160.46 and a 12 month high of $274.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $189.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.60. The company has a market cap of $31.76 billion, a PE ratio of 47.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.75.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 6.27%. The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Constellation Brands will post 13.5 EPS for the current year.

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Constellation Brands’s payout ratio is currently 108.60%.

Insider Transactions at Constellation Brands

In related news, Director William T. Giles bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $186.39 per share, for a total transaction of $186,390.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $272,688.57. This represents a 215.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Constellation Brands

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,534,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,433,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,969 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,755,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,155,946,000 after purchasing an additional 324,690 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,144,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,048,000 after purchasing an additional 402,211 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in shares of Constellation Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,242,976,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,204,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $705,844,000 after purchasing an additional 63,323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

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.