Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM – Get Rating)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $300.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 4.91% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SAM. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Boston Beer from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $331.00 to $275.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $282.00 to $276.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $300.00 to $270.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Boston Beer from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $320.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Boston Beer in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $335.19.

Boston Beer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SAM opened at $315.48 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $350.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $352.40. Boston Beer has a 1-year low of $287.00 and a 1-year high of $422.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.10 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($1.65). The company had revenue of $447.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $392.76 million. Boston Beer had a return on equity of 8.36% and a net margin of 3.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.09) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Boston Beer will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Annette N. Fritsch sold 220 shares of Boston Beer stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.37, for a total value of $70,041.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $444,762.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Annette N. Fritsch sold 220 shares of Boston Beer stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.37, for a total value of $70,041.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $444,762.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John C. Geist sold 646 shares of Boston Beer stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.14, for a total transaction of $206,810.44. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 916 shares of company stock worth $294,352. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boston Beer

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Boston Beer by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Cim LLC boosted its stake in Boston Beer by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cim LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Boston Beer by 2.5% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Boston Beer by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 2,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank boosted its stake in Boston Beer by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 3,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 68.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.