USA: Boston Beer Co. shares downgraded after there was no upside to retain the ‘overweight’ rating

Shares of Boston Beer Co. fell October 02 after a Prudential Equity Group analyst said there was not enough upside to retain the brewer of Sam Adams brews' current rating and downgraded the stock, The Boston Globe’s Business Ticker posted October 02.

Analyst Cheryl Gedvila had some positive words for the brewer.

"We continue to believe that Boston Beer is in the sweet spot of the beer industry as consumers migrate from mainstream beer into the higher-end craft and import categories, also known as 'better beer,'" Gedvila wrote.

Gedvila said that all such activity by brewers including Anheuser-Busch, SABMiller, Molson Coors, and Heineken is spurring the migration and that Boston Beer is in a good place to capitalize on the trend.

However, she noted that Boston Beer shares are up 31.4 percent from the beginning of the year, so she downgraded the company to "Neutral Weight" from "Overweight" based on valuation.

04 October, 2006