Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 383 Shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,665 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STZ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,534,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,433,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,969 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Constellation Brands by 6.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,144,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,048,000 after buying an additional 402,211 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Constellation Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,204,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $705,844,000 after acquiring an additional 63,323 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Constellation Brands by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,176,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,919,000 after acquiring an additional 253,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Constellation Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $445,883,000. 77.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on STZ. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Constellation Brands from $293.00 to $289.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $223.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $245.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus lowered shares of Constellation Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $246.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William T. Giles acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $186.39 per share, for a total transaction of $186,390.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $272,688.57. This trade represents a 215.98 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Constellation Brands Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of STZ opened at $182.62 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.00 billion, a PE ratio of 49.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.75. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.46 and a 12-month high of $274.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last released its 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). Constellation Brands had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

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

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.