ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO)

ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 6,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Diageo by 4.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 158,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,234,000 after buying an additional 6,617 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Diageo by 88,407.3% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 8,113,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,465,000 after buying an additional 8,104,301 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Diageo by 32.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 65,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,248,000 after buying an additional 16,285 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Diageo by 9.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,242,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,671,000 after buying an additional 437,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tevis Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Diageo by 159.7% in the fourth quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 13,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,763,000 after buying an additional 8,528 shares during the last quarter. 8.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Diageo Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE DEO opened at $110.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.66. Diageo plc has a 52-week low of $105.72 and a 52-week high of $154.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $119.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Diageo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 3.8%. Diageo’s payout ratio is currently 73.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DEO. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Diageo from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Diageo from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Diageo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.00.

Diageo Company Profile

Diageo plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The company offers scotch, gin, vodka, rum, raki, liqueur, wine, tequila, Chinese white spirits, cachaça, and brandy, as well as beer, including cider and flavored malt beverages. It also provides Chinese, Canadian, Irish, American, and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor whiskies, as well as flavored malt beverages, ready to drink, and non-alcoholic products.