Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) versus Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) Head-To-Head Comparison

Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) and Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Boston Beer and Constellation Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Boston Beer	3.65%	15.15%	11.02%
Constellation Brands	-4.11%	31.41%	10.81%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

81.1% of Boston Beer shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.3% of Constellation Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 26.1% of Boston Beer shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.5% of Constellation Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Boston Beer and Constellation Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Boston Beer	1	10	2	0	2.08
Constellation Brands	4	9	13	1	2.41

Boston Beer presently has a consensus price target of $258.09, indicating a potential upside of 17.02%. Constellation Brands has a consensus price target of $191.88, indicating a potential upside of 43.85%. Given Constellation Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Constellation Brands is more favorable than Boston Beer.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Boston Beer and Constellation Brands”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Boston Beer	$2.14 billion	1.15	$59.69 million	$7.09	31.11
Constellation Brands	$10.96 billion	2.15	-$81.40 million	($2.39)	-55.81

Boston Beer has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Constellation Brands. Constellation Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Boston Beer, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Boston Beer has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Constellation Brands has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Boston Beer beats Constellation Brands on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company markets and sells its products to a network wholesaler in the United States, as well as wholesalers, importers, or other agencies that in turn sell to retailers, such as grocery stores, club stores, convenience stores, liquor stores, bars, restaurants, stadiums, and other e-commerce retail outlets. It sells its products in Canada, Europe, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, the Pacific Rim, Mexico, and Central and South America. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Constellation Brands

Constellation Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces, imports, markets, and sells beer, wine, and spirits in the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. The company provides beer primarily under the Corona Extra, Corona Familiar, Corona Hard Seltzer, Corona Light, Corona Non-Alcoholic, Corona Premier, Corona Refresca, Modelo Especial, Modelo Chelada, Modelo Negra, Modelo Oro, Victoria, Vicky Chamoy, and Pacifico brands. It also offers wine under the Cook’s California Champagne, Kim Crawford, Meiomi, Mount Veeder, Ruffino, SIMI, My Favorite Neighbor, Robert Mondavi Winery, Schrader, and The Prisoner Wine Company brands; and spirits under the Casa Noble, Copper & Kings, High West, Mi CAMPO, Nelson’s Green Brier, and SVEDKA brands. The company provides its products to wholesale distributors, retailers, on-premise locations, and state alcohol beverage control agencies. Constellation Brands, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Victor, New York.