Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Boston Beer from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $349.00 price target (down from $389.00) on shares of Boston Beer in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $265.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $279.00 price objective on shares of Boston Beer in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Boston Beer from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Boston Beer currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $286.12.

Boston Beer Stock Performance

Shares of SAM traded down $5.88 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $208.52. The stock had a trading volume of 192,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,365. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.05. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $236.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.77. Boston Beer has a 12-month low of $207.00 and a 12-month high of $329.55.

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $1.38. Boston Beer had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 3.82%. The company had revenue of $481.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.27 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Boston Beer will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boston Beer

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Boston Beer by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 214 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Boston Beer by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the company's stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Boston Beer by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Boston Beer by 23.5% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 336 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Boston Beer by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.13% of the company's stock.

Boston Beer Company Profile

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.