Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $160.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on STZ. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $170.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Raymond James Financial set a $150.00 price objective on Constellation Brands in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Constellation Brands from $185.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Constellation Brands from $197.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Evercore set a $160.00 price objective on Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, September 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.09.

Constellation Brands Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Constellation Brands stock opened at $141.85 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.39. Constellation Brands has a 12-month low of $110.60 and a 12-month high of $168.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.46.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 6th. The company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.12. Constellation Brands had a net margin of 19.57% and a return on equity of 24.75%. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Constellation Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.200-11.900 EPS. Research analysts expect that Constellation Brands will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Constellation Brands

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Constellation Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $83,687,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands during the second quarter worth $31,582,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 197.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 338,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,036,000 after buying an additional 224,578 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands in the 2nd quarter worth about $21,683,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 9.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,403,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,491,000 after purchasing an additional 121,515 shares during the last quarter. 77.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Constellation Brands Company Profile

Constellation Brands, Inc is a beverage alcohol company that develops, produces, markets and distributes beer, wine and spirits. Its beer portfolio includes Modelo Especial, Corona Extra, Corona Light, Pacifico and Victoria, while its wine and spirits brands include Robert Mondavi, Kim Crawford, Meiomi, The Prisoner Wine Company, Simi, Ruffino, High West and Casa Noble.

The company’s beer business is primarily focused on the United States, where Constellation markets and distributes several leading Mexican beer brands under license from Grupo Modelo.