Haverford Trust Co Acquires 394 Shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Haverford Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,491 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STZ. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its position in Constellation Brands by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 3,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,534,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,433,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,821,969 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 5,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 3,305 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Constellation Brands by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 217,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Constellation Brands by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,319,000 after purchasing an additional 25,110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on STZ. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $214.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Constellation Brands from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $261.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $203.00 price target (down from $262.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Constellation Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Constellation Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $250.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Constellation Brands news, Director William T. Giles acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $186.39 per share, for a total transaction of $186,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,688.57. The trade was a 215.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:STZ opened at $180.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a PE ratio of 48.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.46 and a 52-week high of $274.87.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.08). Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 6.27%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.5 EPS for the current year.

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.60%.

About Constellation Brands

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.