Jefferies analyst Kevin Grundy says Constellation Brands (STZ) remains his top large cap growth idea following his meeting with cannabis Canopy Growth (CGC), which is 40% owned by Constellation. The analyst came away impressed by Canopy's leadership, encouraged by its ability to capitalize on the "massive" global cannabis opportunity, and reassured by its confidence to deliver the "scrutinized" C$1B in revenue in 2020. He views Constellation's risk/reward as favorable and keeps a Buy rating on the shares with a $289 price target.

Cowen analyst Vivien Azer told investors in a research note that Constellation Brands (STZ) remains her overall Top Pick across all of the companies under her coverage going into 2019, contending that best in class revenue growth within U.S. beer, coupled with strong profitability has afforded Constellation the opportunity to leverage this strong operating performance and position it to win over the long term with its notable $4B investment in market leading Canopy Growth (CGC). Azer maintains an Outperform rating and $260 price target on Constellation shares.

Benchmark analysts selected their Best Ideas for the first half of 2019, naming 16 stocks, including: Activision Blizzard (ATVI), BioTelemetry (BEAT), Biofrontera (BFRA), Ctrip (CTRP), Huazhu Group (HTHT), II-VI (IIVI), Intevac (IVAC), LHC Group (LHCG), Meredith (MDP), Marvell (MRVL), NeoGenomics (NEO), Pegasystems (PEGA), Silicon Labs (SLAB), Varonis (VRNS), Canopy Growth (CGC) and Waitr Holdings (WTRH).

Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog reiterated an Outperform rating and $260 price target on Constellation Brands (STZ), telling investors in a research note that she believes Constellation is one of the most attractive stocks in Staples, given scarcity of growth across the group and the pullback, which she says is "unjustified." While she expects Constellation to lower FY19 EPS guidance to reflect 25c-30c of interest expense from the increased stake in Canopy Growth (CGC), Herzog believes Q3 results may surprise to the upside based on strong performance in Nielsen scanner data through December and potential beer margin upside from lower marketing investments. She sees Q3 results as a potential positive catalyst and encourages long-term investors to accumulate positions in the stock.