Empirical Finance LLC Grows Holdings in Constellation Brands Inc $STZ

Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ) by 136.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,277 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,198 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $1,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Constellation Brands in the second quarter worth $63,356,000. Wellington Grp LLC raised its position in Constellation Brands by 90.8% during the second quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 4,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Constellation Brands by 14,134.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 34,381,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,782,183,000 after purchasing an additional 34,140,390 shares in the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Constellation Brands during the second quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Constellation Brands during the second quarter worth about $299,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on STZ. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Constellation Brands from $186.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Constellation Brands in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Constellation Brands in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Freedom Capital cut shares of Constellation Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Constellation Brands from $152.00 to $145.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.00.

Constellation Brands Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of STZ stock opened at $121.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.41. Constellation Brands Inc has a 1-year low of $120.25 and a 1-year high of $168.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $131.98 and a 200 day moving average of $143.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.70 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Constellation Brands had a return on equity of 25.58% and a net margin of 18.87%.Constellation Brands’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.22 earnings per share. Constellation Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.200-11.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Constellation Brands Inc will post 11.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 30th. Constellation Brands’s payout ratio is presently 39.31%.

Trending Headlines about Constellation Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Constellation Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Constellation Brands plans to redeem all $600 million of its outstanding 4.350% senior notes due 2027 on September 18, 2026. The move could reduce future interest expense and indicates management is actively optimizing its debt structure, although the cash outlay may limit the immediate financial benefit. Constellation Brands Announces Delivery of Notice of Redemption for 4.350% Senior Notes Due 2027
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain cautiously optimistic, with a reported median price target of $172 versus the stock’s recent level near its 12-month low. However, the wide range of targets reflects uncertainty over the pace of recovery, and STZ has significantly underperformed the broader consumer defensive sector over the past year. Constellation Brands Stock: Is STZ Underperforming the Consumer Defensive Sector?
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s conference commentary renewed concerns about demand. August off-premise trends were described as lackluster after a stronger summer, while elevated fuel costs may be pressuring household spending and premium-beer consumption. Management also warned that second-half gross margins could be compressed by logistics inflation, commodity costs, seasonal factors, and increased marketing spending. These comments reinforce limited near-term visibility around beer sales, which are guided to range from a 1% decline to 1% growth. Constellation Brands Warns Logistics and Commodity Costs Will Compress H2 Margins

Constellation Brands Company Profile

Constellation Brands, Inc (NYSE: STZ) is a beverage alcohol company that produces, markets and distributes beer, wine and spirits. Its portfolio includes well-known beer brands such as Corona Extra, Modelo Especial, Modelo Negra, Pacifico and Victoria, along with wine brands including Robert Mondavi, The Prisoner, Kim Crawford and Meiomi. Its spirits portfolio includes brands such as Casa Noble tequila and High West whiskey.

The company’s beer business is focused primarily on the United States, where Constellation markets and sells Mexican beer brands brewed by its production operations in Mexico.