Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) Downgraded by Citigroup to “Neutral”

Citigroup downgraded shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $200.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $260.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on STZ. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $255.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective (down previously from $262.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $250.41.

Constellation Brands Price Performance

Shares of Constellation Brands stock opened at $177.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.46. Constellation Brands has a fifty-two week low of $160.46 and a fifty-two week high of $274.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $177.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.08. The company has a market cap of $32.12 billion, a PE ratio of 47.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by ($0.08). Constellation Brands had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 26.55%. 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 company earned $3.19 earnings per share. Constellation Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Constellation Brands will post 13.5 EPS for the current year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William T. Giles acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $186.39 per share, with a total value of $186,390.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,463 shares in the company, valued at $272,688.57. The trade was a 215.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Constellation Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STZ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 13.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 3.4% in 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 6.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in shares of Constellation Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,242,976,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 2.0% in 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 during 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.