Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,386 shares of the company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,199,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Constellation Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,591,000. Tredje AP fonden grew its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 134,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,697,000 after acquiring an additional 45,800 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,241,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the last quarter. 77.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William T. Giles purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $272,688.57. This represents a 215.98 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on STZ. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $201.00 target price (down from $310.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Constellation Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Constellation Brands from $255.00 to $190.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $252.81.

Constellation Brands Price Performance

Constellation Brands stock opened at $181.46 on Friday. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $160.46 and a one year high of $274.87. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $180.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.38. The company has a market cap of $32.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.75.

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

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given 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 was Friday, February 7th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.60%.

Constellation Brands 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.