Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Boston Beer from $257.00 to $250.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Boston Beer from $350.00 to $315.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Boston Beer from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and upped their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Boston Beer from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $273.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $337.00 target price on shares of Boston Beer in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $335.00.

Boston Beer Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE SAM opened at $291.16 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $291.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $327.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.03. Boston Beer has a 52 week low of $264.63 and a 52 week high of $395.52.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.96. Boston Beer had a return on equity of 10.11% and a net margin of 4.60%. The firm had revenue of $426.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.18 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Boston Beer will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Carolyn L. O’boyle sold 101 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.49, for a total transaction of $30,652.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,133,231.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boston Beer

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Boston Beer by 240.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Boston Beer in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,333,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Boston Beer by 63.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 12,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,764,000 after buying an additional 4,782 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Boston Beer in the 1st quarter valued at about $329,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Boston Beer in the 1st quarter valued at about $114,000. 81.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Boston Beer

The Boston Beer Company, Inc produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. The company's flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It offers various beers, hard ciders, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, Angel City, and Coney Island brand names.