Leonteq Securities AG Makes New Investment in Constellation Brands Inc $STZ

Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 38,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,270,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 3.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,202,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,451,346,000 after buying an additional 573,766 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 0.7% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,337,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $584,135,000 after buying an additional 28,036 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 1.0% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,710,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,752,000 after buying an additional 35,085 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 76.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,126,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,059,000 after buying an additional 1,356,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 15.5% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,160,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,915,000 after buying an additional 290,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Constellation Brands Price Performance

NYSE STZ opened at $151.25 on Thursday. Constellation Brands Inc has a twelve month low of $126.45 and a twelve month high of $190.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.46.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.19. Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%.The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Constellation Brands Inc will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Constellation Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Constellation Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Constellation Brands’s payout ratio is currently 42.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STZ. Bank of America boosted their price target on Constellation Brands from $142.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Constellation Brands from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Constellation Brands from $155.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Constellation Brands news, EVP James O. Bourdeau sold 4,407 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.24, for a total value of $631,258.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,304,773.16. This represents a 32.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 12.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Constellation Brands Profile

Constellation Brands, Inc is a leading producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits, with operations spanning production, importation, marketing and distribution. The company’s beverage portfolio includes a range of premium and mainstream wines and spirits alongside major imported beer brands; in the U.S. market Constellation is widely known for its role in bringing Mexican imports such as Corona and Modelo to American consumers. Constellation supplies retail, on‑premise and foodservice channels and supports its brands with national sales and marketing platforms and supply‑chain capabilities.

The company traces its roots to the Canandaigua Wine Company, founded by Marvin Sands in 1945, and evolved through organic growth and acquisition into a diversified beverage company.