Bridgewater Associates LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,902 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,498 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $43,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $128,765,000 after buying an additional 497,543 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands in the 2nd quarter worth $119,394,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 50.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 975,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,099,000 after purchasing an additional 328,881 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 241,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coho Partners Ltd. increased its holdings in Constellation Brands by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Coho Partners Ltd. now owns 283,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,947,000 after buying an additional 80,970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Constellation Brands

In other news, CEO William A. Newlands sold 7,426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.24, for a total value of $1,761,744.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,725,683.76. This represents a 50.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP James A. Jr. Sabia sold 36,086 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.99, for a total transaction of $8,768,537.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,042 shares in the company, valued at $3,898,045.58. This represents a 69.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,956 shares of company stock worth $46,058,091 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on STZ. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $255.00 target price (down previously from $300.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $307.00 to $293.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Constellation Brands in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $261.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Constellation Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Constellation Brands has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $289.16.

Constellation Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STZ opened at $233.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.90. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.76 and a fifty-two week high of $274.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $242.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.08.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 3rd. The company reported $4.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.08 by $0.24. Constellation Brands had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 25.34%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.70 earnings per share. Constellation Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $1.01 dividend. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. Constellation Brands’s payout ratio is currently 130.74%.

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.