StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM – Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SAM. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Boston Beer from a hold rating to an underperform rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $331.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Boston Beer in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. They set a neutral rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on shares of Boston Beer from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Boston Beer from $300.00 to $270.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a neutral rating on shares of Boston Beer in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Boston Beer currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $335.19.

Boston Beer Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:SAM opened at $310.21 on Thursday. Boston Beer has a 1-year low of $287.00 and a 1-year high of $422.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $349.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $351.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 57.13 and a beta of 1.05.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($1.65). Boston Beer had a net margin of 3.12% and a return on equity of 8.36%. The firm had revenue of $447.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $392.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Boston Beer’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Boston Beer will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Boston Beer

In related news, VP Annette N. Fritsch sold 220 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.37, for a total value of $70,041.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $444,762.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Annette N. Fritsch sold 220 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.37, for a total value of $70,041.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $444,762.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John C. Geist sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.14, for a total value of $206,810.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,784,140.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 916 shares of company stock valued at $294,352 over the last quarter. 23.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAM. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Boston Beer by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new position in Boston Beer in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in Boston Beer by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,071,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Natixis bought a new position in Boston Beer in the fourth quarter valued at about $556,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Boston Beer by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.72% of the company’s stock.

About Boston Beer

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Boston Beer Co, Inc engages in the production of alcoholic beverages. Its brands include Truly Hard Seltzer, Twisted Tea, Samuel Adams, Angry Orchard, Hard Cider and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. Boston Beer produces alcohol beverages, including hard seltzer, malt beverages (“beers“), and hard cider at company-owned breweries and its cidery, and under contract arrangements at other brewery locations.