Natixis Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Natixis Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 102,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,203 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $22,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 1,844.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 924,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,265,000 after acquiring an additional 876,745 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $105,766,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,144,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,048,000 after purchasing an additional 402,211 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 453,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,373,000 after purchasing an additional 160,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Constellation Brands during the fourth quarter worth $31,656,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

Shares of STZ opened at $183.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.10. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.46 and a 1 year high of $274.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $179.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.70.

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

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William T. Giles bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $186.39 per share, for a total transaction of $186,390.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,688.57. This trade represents a 215.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on STZ. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Constellation Brands from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial lowered 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. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $201.00 price objective (down previously from $310.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Constellation Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.81.

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.