Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

ABEV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.09.

Ambev Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of ABEV stock opened at $3.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.02. Ambev has a fifty-two week low of $2.10 and a fifty-two week high of $3.45.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 18.47%. Research analysts forecast that Ambev will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be issued a $0.0092 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 24th. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.00%.

Insider Transactions at Ambev

In related news, Director Ricardo Manuel Frangat Moreira sold 468,040 shares of Ambev stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.08, for a total value of $1,441,563.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,240,000. This trade represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Ambev by 291.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ambev by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 172,969,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,235,000 after acquiring an additional 14,468,963 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ambev by 248.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,135,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,445,000 after purchasing an additional 9,361,815 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Ambev by 74.8% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,409,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DJE Kapital AG bought a new position in shares of Ambev during the first quarter valued at about $14,778,000. 8.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ambev

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.