Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.0933.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ambev from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ambev from $2.65 to $2.90 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Transactions at Ambev

In related news, insider De Lacerda Eduardo Cavalcanti sold 152,386 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total value of $434,300.10. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,519. This trade represents a 40.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oxbow Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ambev in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Ambev by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 36,058,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,864,844 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Ambev by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,659,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,232 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda boosted its holdings in Ambev by 216.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 1,784,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,006 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ambev in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,196,000. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ambev Stock Performance

Shares of ABEV opened at $3.15 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3.01 and its 200-day moving average is $2.78. Ambev has a 12 month low of $2.10 and a 12 month high of $3.45. The firm has a market cap of $49.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Ambev had a net margin of 17.69% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. Equities analysts expect that Ambev will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid a $0.0092 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 24th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 173.68%.

About Ambev

Ambev (NYSE: ABEV) is a Brazilian-based beverage company that produces, distributes and markets a broad portfolio of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The company’s core business centers on brewing and selling beer, alongside a range of soft drinks, bottled water, energy drinks and other malt-based beverages. Headquartered in São Paulo, Ambev operates an integrated value chain that covers manufacturing, packaging, logistics and commercial sales to retail, on-premise and institutional customers.

The company traces its origins to the 1999 merger of two historic Brazilian breweries, and later became part of the broader global brewing group through subsequent industry consolidations.