HCR Wealth Advisors Cuts Position in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

HCR Wealth Advisors trimmed its stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,044 shares of the company’s stock after selling 707 shares during the quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $1,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 6.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,144,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,048,000 after purchasing an additional 402,211 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,853,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,515,000 after buying an additional 21,454 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,335,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $343,717,000 after acquiring an additional 72,637 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Constellation Brands by 31.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,002,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,865,000 after acquiring an additional 241,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Constellation Brands by 23,184.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 499,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,765,000 after acquiring an additional 497,543 shares in the last quarter. 77.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $308.00 target price on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Constellation Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $315.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $261.40.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

NYSE STZ opened at $180.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.52, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.25. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.51 and a fifty-two week high of $274.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.08). Constellation Brands had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 25.34%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.01 per share. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Wildstar Partners Llc sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total value of $159,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,736,884 shares in the company, valued at $418,589,044. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James A. Jr. Sabia sold 36,086 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.99, for a total value of $8,768,537.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,898,045.58. The trade was a 69.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 69,172 shares of company stock valued at $16,778,841. Corporate insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

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.