Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SAM. Berenberg Bank started coverage on Boston Beer in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $281.10 target price on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Boston Beer from a "moderate sell" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Boston Beer in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Boston Beer in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Boston Beer from $265.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Boston Beer has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $276.21.

Boston Beer Price Performance

NYSE:SAM traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $190.45. 489,306 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 163,058. Boston Beer has a 12-month low of $185.34 and a 12-month high of $329.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $227.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $243.60.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $1.38. The firm had revenue of $481.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $436.27 million. Boston Beer had a return on equity of 13.81% and a net margin of 3.30%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Boston Beer will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Boston Beer by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 865,251 shares of the company's stock worth $206,657,000 after buying an additional 15,563 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Boston Beer by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 703,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,030,000 after purchasing an additional 29,412 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Boston Beer by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 422,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,821,000 after acquiring an additional 69,778 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Boston Beer by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 225,762 shares of the company's stock worth $67,723,000 after purchasing an additional 19,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Boston Beer by 72.7% during the 1st quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 210,553 shares of the company's stock worth $50,288,000 after acquiring an additional 88,624 shares in the last quarter. 81.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Boston Beer

The Boston Beer Company, Inc produces and sells alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. The company's flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It offers various beers, hard ciders, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, Angel City, and Coney Island brand names.