Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) Trading Down 4.8% on Analyst Downgrade

The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) shares dropped 4.8% during trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. Jefferies Financial Group now has a $325.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $355.00. Boston Beer traded as low as $282.75 and last traded at $287.49. Approximately 57,388 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 158,487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $301.88.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on SAM. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Boston Beer from $344.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Boston Beer from $281.00 to $277.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $389.00 price target on shares of Boston Beer in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Boston Beer from $332.00 to $318.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Boston Beer from $300.00 to $309.00 in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boston Beer

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Boston Beer in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its position in Boston Beer by 160.0% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 4,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,040 shares during the period. Natixis purchased a new stake in Boston Beer in the first quarter valued at $3,044,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in Boston Beer by 16.9% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 13,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Boston Beer by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 918,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,425,000 after purchasing an additional 21,060 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.13% of the company’s stock.

Boston Beer Stock Down 2.0 %

The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 38.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.30.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $4.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.99 by ($0.60). Boston Beer had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The firm had revenue of $579.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $597.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.72 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Boston Beer Company, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Boston Beer

The Boston Beer Company, Inc produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. The company's flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It offers various beers, hard ciders, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, Angel City, and Coney Island brand names.