Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys Shares of 278,876 Ambev S.A. $ABEV

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 278,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $814,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ambev during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Monument Capital Management bought a new position in Ambev during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in Ambev during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Ambev in the first quarter worth $26,000. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ambev in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABEV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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, May 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.09.

Ambev Stock Down 0.2%

ABEV opened at $3.10 on Friday. Ambev S.A. has a 12 month low of $2.10 and a 12 month high of $3.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $48.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.94.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 17.69%.The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Ambev S.A. will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.0092 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 24th. Ambev’s payout ratio is currently 10.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paulo Andre Zagman sold 136,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.41, for a total value of $464,612.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 230,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,124.35. This represents a 37.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Ambev Company Profile

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.