Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $2.90, but opened at $3.24. Ambev shares last traded at $3.3450, with a volume of 10,197,184 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABEV shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group set a $2.65 price objective on shares of Ambev and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ambev has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.01.

Ambev Stock Down 4.5%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.73. The firm has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.61. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. Ambev had a net margin of 17.69% and a return on equity of 16.83%. The company had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider De Lacerda Eduardo Cavalcanti sold 152,386 shares of Ambev stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total transaction of $434,300.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 223,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,519. This trade represents a 40.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABEV. Oxbow Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ambev in the third quarter valued at $2,805,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ambev by 118.7% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,659,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,232 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 36,058,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,864,844 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 216.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 1,784,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ambev during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,196,000. Hedge funds and other 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.