Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC Lowers Stake in Diageo plc $DEO

Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 25.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,955 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,080 shares during the period. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Diageo were worth $1,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Diageo by 48.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,701,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,410,000 after acquiring an additional 555,509 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Diageo by 72,871.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,568,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,013 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,547,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,690,000 after purchasing an additional 121,008 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,363,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,119,000 after purchasing an additional 12,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Diageo by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,309,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,943,000 after purchasing an additional 527,814 shares during the last quarter. 8.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Diageo in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC cut shares of Diageo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Diageo in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Diageo and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Diageo from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.50.

Diageo Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE DEO opened at $73.35 on Friday. Diageo plc has a 1-year low of $72.45 and a 1-year high of $116.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.44 and a 200-day moving average of $90.11.

Diageo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a yield of 207.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th.

About Diageo

Diageo plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of alcoholic beverages, headquartered in London, England. The company was created through the 1997 merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc and is publicly traded on multiple exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange. Diageo operates a worldwide business, selling products in a broad range of markets across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Diageo’s core activities cover the production, marketing and sale of a diverse portfolio of spirits, beer and liqueurs.