Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.0933.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Scotiabank cut Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ambev from $2.65 to $2.90 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Ambev

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Ambev by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 172,969,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,235,000 after acquiring an additional 14,468,963 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Ambev by 291.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 45,462,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,293,000 after acquiring an additional 33,842,540 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Ambev by 9.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,505,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,479,310 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Ambev by 6.5% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,354,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,900 shares during the period. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 22,600,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,822,000 after purchasing an additional 874,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Ambev Stock Performance

ABEV stock opened at $3.06 on Friday. Ambev has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $3.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $48.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $3.14 and its 200-day moving average is $3.01.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 17.69%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ambev will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be issued a $0.0092 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 24th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.53%.

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.