Constellation Brands, Inc. (STZ), BEAM Inc (BEAM): Drink Up, Investing in Wine and Spirits

Founded in 1945, Victor, New York-based Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) is the largest wine producer in the world. Poised to get all the U.S. rights to Mexico’s Modelo beer brands, including Corona Extra and Corona Light, along with its acquisition of Crown Imports, Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) will also be a tremendous player in the beer industry as America’s third largest brewer.

Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) currently doesn’t have a large number of spirits under its umbrella, and the ones it does have, like Svedka Vodka and Black Velvet Canadian whiskey, aren’t as well known as the Beam or Brown-Forman brands.

With a market cap of over $8.5 billion, earnings per share of $2.11, and price to earnings ratio of 22.20, Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) is definitely a company to watch. Unfortunately, they don’t pay dividends and their beta of 1.21 is less stable than Beam’s or Brown-Foreman’s.

Conclusion

BEAM Inc (NYSE:BEAM) and Brown-Forman pay dividends, which always makes me smile favorably on a company. However, Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) has had a strong, mostly climbing stock chart for a decade, so the moral of the story (if there can be a moral in a story about alcohol) is that booze is good for the bottom line provided you’re investing in it more than you’re drinking it.

The article Drink Up: Investing in Wine and Spirits originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Marie Flanigan.

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