American Century Companies Inc. Has $303.32 Million Stock Holdings in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,372,485 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 25,110 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $303,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STZ. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Constellation Brands by 1,844.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 924,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,265,000 after buying an additional 876,745 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Constellation Brands during the 4th quarter worth $105,766,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,144,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,048,000 after purchasing an additional 402,211 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake 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 4th quarter worth $31,656,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on STZ. Argus lowered shares of Constellation Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Constellation Brands from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $203.00 target price (down from $262.00) on shares of Constellation Brands in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Constellation Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $250.41.

Constellation Brands Price Performance

NYSE:STZ opened at $177.73 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $177.32 and a 200-day moving average of $217.28. The company has a market capitalization of $32.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.78, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.46 and a 52 week high of $274.87. 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 (NYSE:STZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 6.27%. Constellation Brands’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.01 per share. This represents a $4.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William T. Giles bought 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Constellation Brands Company 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.