Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC decreased its holdings in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 76 shares during the quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $3,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STZ. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 3.8% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 0.8% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 5,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,435,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in Constellation Brands by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 1,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on STZ shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Constellation Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $308.00 price objective on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Constellation Brands in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $261.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.05.

Constellation Brands Stock Performance

STZ stock opened at $182.99 on Monday. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.51 and a 1 year high of $274.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.19, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $221.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.20.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. Constellation Brands had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.52 EPS for the current year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.01 per share. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Constellation Brands’s payout ratio is currently 108.60%.

Insider Transactions at Constellation Brands

In other news, EVP James A. Jr. Sabia sold 36,086 shares of Constellation Brands stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,898,045.58. This trade represents a 69.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William T. Giles acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $186.39 per share, with a total value of $186,390.00. Following the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 69,172 shares of company stock valued at $16,778,841. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.