Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 576,007 Shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) by 72.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 215,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 576,007 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $47,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Constellation Brands by 13.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Constellation Brands by 6.0% in the 3rd 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. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 13.2% in the fourth 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. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Constellation Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $445,883,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,782,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,035,000 after purchasing an additional 38,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Constellation Brands

In other news, Director William T. Giles purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $186.39 per share, with a total value of $186,390.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $272,688.57. This represents a 215.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 12.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Constellation Brands Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE STZ opened at $173.79 on Friday. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.46 and a fifty-two 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. The company has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.72, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $177.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.55.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The company reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 26.55% and a net margin of 6.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 13.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Constellation Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Constellation Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on STZ. Citigroup cut Constellation Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Roth Capital dropped their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $298.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Constellation Brands from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $245.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Constellation Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $244.32.

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.