Ambev S.A. (ABEV) – What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.13.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABEV. UBS Group set a $2.85 price objective on Ambev in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Ambev from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $3.30 price target on shares of Ambev in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Ambev from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th.

Ambev Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE ABEV opened at $3.21 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.02. Ambev has a one year low of $2.10 and a one year high of $3.45. The firm has a market cap of $50.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.58.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. Ambev had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 17.48%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be issued a $0.0092 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.00%.

Insider Activity at Ambev

In related news, insider Carla Smith De Vasconcellos Crippa Prado sold 60,757 shares of Ambev stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.09, for a total value of $187,739.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 80,707 shares in the company, valued at $249,384.63. The trade was a 42.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Manuel Moreira sold 468,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.08, for a total transaction of $1,441,563.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,240,000. This trade represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Ambev by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,700,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,804,000 after acquiring an additional 566,949 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ambev by 0.7% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 349,323,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,096,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338,660 shares during the last quarter. Cook & Bynum Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ambev during the second quarter worth approximately $4,251,588. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its stake in Ambev by 712.8% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 1,837,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP lifted its stake in Ambev by 62.0% during the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 967,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,824,000 after purchasing an additional 370,112 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ambev Company Profile

Ambev SA is a Brazilian beverage company and one of the largest brewers in Latin America. The company produces, distributes and sells beer, carbonated soft drinks, nonalcoholic beverages and other drink products through a portfolio that includes brands such as Brahma, Skol, Antarctica, Bohemia, Budweiser, Stella Artois and Guaraná Antarctica.

Founded in 1999 through the merger of Companhia Antarctica Paulista and Companhia Cervejaria Brahma, Ambev became part of Anheuser-Busch InBev following the latter’s combination with Anheuser-Busch in 2008.