Wall Street Zen Downgrades Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) to Hold

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on ABEV. Barclays raised their target price on Ambev from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ambev from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.69.

Ambev Stock Performance

NYSE ABEV opened at $2.81 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.58. Ambev has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $3.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 17.75%.The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Research analysts expect that Ambev will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ambev

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABEV. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ambev by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 3,936 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its holdings in Ambev by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 100,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 4,237 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Ambev by 3.4% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 140,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ambev by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 240,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.