Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Position in Diageo plc $DEO

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,291 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,785 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Diageo were worth $15,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DEO. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Diageo in the 4th quarter valued at $3,283,000. &PARTNERS boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 44,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Titan Wealth CI Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Diageo in the 4th quarter valued at $362,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 31,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,713,000 after acquiring an additional 5,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Diageo by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 11,441 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

Diageo Price Performance

DEO opened at $80.57 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $81.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.05. Diageo plc has a 1 year low of $72.45 and a 1 year high of $116.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on DEO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Diageo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Diageo from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Diageo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Diageo in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Diageo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.50.

Diageo Profile

Diageo plc is a global producer, marketer and distributor of alcoholic beverages, headquartered in London, England. The company was created through the 1997 merger of Guinness plc and Grand Metropolitan plc and is publicly traded on multiple exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange. Diageo operates a worldwide business, selling products in a broad range of markets across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Diageo’s core activities cover the production, marketing and sale of a diverse portfolio of spirits, beer and liqueurs.