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

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $240.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 31.03% from the stock’s previous close.

STZ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $255.00 target price (down from $300.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, October 7th. Argus cut Constellation Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Constellation Brands from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Constellation Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Constellation Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.14.

Constellation Brands Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE STZ opened at $183.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $33.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Constellation Brands has a 52-week low of $176.51 and a 52-week high of $274.87.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 6.27%. Constellation Brands’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Constellation Brands will post 13.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Constellation Brands news, CEO William A. Newlands sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total transaction of $6,089,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 7,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,771,800.92. This represents a 77.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William T. Giles acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $186.39 per share, with a total value of $186,390.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $272,688.57. This trade represents a 215.98 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,746 shares of company stock valued at $15,017,097 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Constellation Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 23,184.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 499,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,765,000 after acquiring an additional 497,543 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 6.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,144,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,048,000 after purchasing an additional 402,211 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 369,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,762,000 after buying an additional 147,457 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 617.3% in the 3rd quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 108,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,929,000 after buying an additional 93,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 4,601.2% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 87,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,618,000 after buying an additional 85,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.