Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ambev from $3.50 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Bank of America cut shares of Ambev from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $3.30 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group set a $2.85 price target on shares of Ambev in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.01.

Ambev Stock Up 1.7%

ABEV stock opened at $2.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3.02 and a 200-day moving average of $3.02. Ambev has a fifty-two week low of $2.28 and a fifty-two week high of $3.45.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. Ambev had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 18.47%. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.21 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.0092 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ambev

In other Ambev news, insider Carla Smith De Vasconcellos Crippa Prado sold 60,757 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.09, for a total transaction of $187,739.13. Following the transaction, the insider owned 80,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,384.63. The trade was a 42.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABEV. Formuepleje A S bought a new stake in Ambev during the third quarter worth $23,610,000. DJE Kapital AG bought a new position in shares of Ambev in the 1st quarter valued at about $14,778,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 0.7% during the 2nd 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. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 6.5% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 712.8% during the 2nd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

About Ambev

Ambev SA is a Brazilian beverage company headquartered in São Paulo and one of the largest beverage producers in Latin America. Its principal business is the production, distribution and sale of beer, although it also offers soft drinks, carbonated beverages, bottled water, energy drinks and other non-alcoholic products.

The company’s beer portfolio includes brands such as Brahma, Skol, Antarctica, Bohemia, Original, Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, with brand availability varying by market.