Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Raises Holdings in Constellation Brands Inc $STZ

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ) by 99.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,489 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,161 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $5,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Constellation Brands by 76.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,126,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356,903 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Constellation Brands by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,160,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,915,000 after acquiring an additional 290,701 shares during the period. 77.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James O. Bourdeau sold 4,407 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.24, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 32.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 12.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on STZ. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Constellation Brands in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $146.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $175.00 target price on shares of Constellation Brands and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.30.

Constellation Brands Stock Down 1.5%

STZ stock opened at $140.39 on Thursday. Constellation Brands Inc has a one year low of $126.45 and a one year high of $196.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $153.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08.

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

Constellation Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Constellation Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.96%.

Constellation Brands Company Profile

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.