Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ)

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 23.01% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Constellation Brands from $307.00 to $293.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $298.00 price target on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Constellation Brands from $315.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Constellation Brands 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 stock has a market cap of $41.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.67, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.25. Constellation Brands has a fifty-two week low of $224.76 and a fifty-two week high of $274.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.37.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last posted its 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 return on equity of 25.34% and a net margin of 5.29%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Constellation Brands will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Constellation Brands

In other news, major shareholder Wildstar Partners Llc sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total transaction of $159,060.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,736,884 shares in the company, valued at $418,589,044. This represents a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Samuel J. Glaetzer sold 1,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.57, for a total transaction of $370,810.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,482.90. This trade represents a 23.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 189,956 shares of company stock worth $46,058,091. Corporate insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in Constellation Brands by 568.4% during the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 30,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,731,000 after buying an additional 25,512 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 318.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 7,752 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 29.5% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 30,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,772,000 after purchasing an additional 6,867 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Constellation Brands during the third quarter worth about $2,132,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 3.7% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 84,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980 shares during the last quarter. 77.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.