Vestcor Inc Sells 38,404 Shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Vestcor Inc decreased its stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 90.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,963 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,404 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Constellation Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of Constellation Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Constellation Brands during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Constellation Brands by 887.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Constellation Brands in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $261.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $203.00 target price (down from $262.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $220.00 to $202.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Constellation Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.81.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:STZ opened at $181.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.10. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.46 and a fifty-two week high of $274.87. The company has a market cap of $32.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.78, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $180.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $219.23.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 6.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.01 dividend. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Constellation Brands news, Director William T. Giles acquired 1,000 shares of Constellation Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $186.39 per share, with a total value of $186,390.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $272,688.57. This represents a 215.98 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Constellation Brands Company Profile

Constellation Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces, imports, markets, and sells beer, wine, and spirits in the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. The company provides beer primarily under the Corona Extra, Corona Familiar, Corona Hard Seltzer, Corona Light, Corona Non-Alcoholic, Corona Premier, Corona Refresca, Modelo Especial, Modelo Chelada, Modelo Negra, Modelo Oro, Victoria, Vicky Chamoy, and Pacifico brands.