Legal & General Group Plc Has $107.97 Million Stock Position in Constellation Brands Inc $STZ

Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 782,648 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,469 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.45% of Constellation Brands worth $107,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in STZ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,202,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,451,346,000 after purchasing an additional 573,766 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,337,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $584,135,000 after purchasing an additional 28,036 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,710,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,752,000 after purchasing an additional 35,085 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,126,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,160,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,915,000 after purchasing an additional 290,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

Shares of STZ stock opened at $142.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $152.37 and a 200-day moving average of $149.21. Constellation Brands Inc has a one year low of $126.45 and a one year high of $180.41.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%.Constellation Brands’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Constellation Brands Inc will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Constellation Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Constellation Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on STZ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Constellation Brands from $155.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Constellation Brands from $146.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised Constellation Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $142.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Constellation Brands from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.26.

Insider Activity at Constellation Brands

In other news, EVP James O. Bourdeau sold 4,407 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.24, for a total value of $631,258.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,304,773.16. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 12.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Constellation Brands

Constellation Brands, Inc is a leading producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits, with operations spanning production, importation, marketing and distribution. The company’s beverage portfolio includes a range of premium and mainstream wines and spirits alongside major imported beer brands; in the U.S. market Constellation is widely known for its role in bringing Mexican imports such as Corona and Modelo to American consumers. Constellation supplies retail, on?premise and foodservice channels and supports its brands with national sales and marketing platforms and supply?chain capabilities.

The company traces its roots to the Canandaigua Wine Company, founded by Marvin Sands in 1945, and evolved through organic growth and acquisition into a diversified beverage company.