Brokerages Set Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Price Target at $3.08

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.0767.

A number of analysts have commented on ABEV shares. UBS Group set a $2.85 price objective on shares of Ambev in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th.

Ambev Stock Performance

ABEV opened at $2.94 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.04. Ambev has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $3.45. The company has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. Ambev had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 17.48%. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.0092 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ambev’s payout ratio is presently 10.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Manuel Moreira sold 468,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.08, for a total transaction of $1,441,563.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,240,000. This trade represents a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 2,338,660 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ambev by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,354,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,900 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Ambev by 4.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 9,414,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,253,000 after purchasing an additional 67,402 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 5,982,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,777,000 after purchasing an additional 221,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

About Ambev

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 and other nonalcoholic beverages through a portfolio of local, regional and international brands.

Its beer portfolio includes brands such as Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Bohemia, Original, Stella Artois and Budweiser, while its nonalcoholic beverage offerings include products marketed under brands such as Guaraná Antarctica and Pepsi.