Intech Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 51.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,152 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,357 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in STZ. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $204,265,000 after buying an additional 876,745 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Constellation Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $105,766,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Constellation Brands by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,144,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,048,000 after acquiring an additional 402,211 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Constellation Brands by 54.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 453,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,373,000 after purchasing an additional 160,563 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Constellation Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,656,000. Institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on STZ. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $201.00 price objective (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $220.00 to $202.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Constellation Brands from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $250.41.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

Shares of STZ opened at $177.73 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $32.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $177.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.87. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.46 and a 52 week 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 company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.60%.

Insider Transactions at Constellation Brands

In other news, Director William T. Giles acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Constellation Brands 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.