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

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday.

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

Ambev Trading Up 1.9%

Ambev stock opened at $2.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.96. Ambev has a fifty-two week low of $2.10 and a fifty-two week high of $3.24. The stock has a market cap of $46.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $2.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.59.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Ambev will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its position in Ambev by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 100,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 4,237 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Ambev by 3.4% in 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. lifted its stake in Ambev by 2.0% in 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. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

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.