Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $14.64 Million Position in Constellation Brands Inc $STZ

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 106,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,639,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 3.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,202,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,451,346,000 after purchasing an additional 573,766 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Constellation Brands by 0.7% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,337,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $584,135,000 after acquiring an additional 28,036 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its stake in Constellation Brands by 1.0% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,710,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,752,000 after acquiring an additional 35,085 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Constellation Brands by 76.7% in the third 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 lifted its stake in Constellation Brands by 15.5% in the third 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on STZ shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $151.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Evercore set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Constellation Brands and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $176.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Constellation Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.37.

Insider Activity at Constellation Brands

In other Constellation Brands news, EVP James O. Bourdeau sold 4,407 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,304,773.16. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 12.45% of the company’s stock.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

STZ stock opened at $149.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.73. Constellation Brands Inc has a one year low of $126.45 and a one year high of $186.40. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Constellation Brands had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Constellation Brands Inc will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 29th. This is a positive change from Constellation Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Constellation Brands’s payout ratio is currently 42.96%.

Constellation Brands 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.