Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and nine have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $2.5267.

Several analysts have weighed in on ABEV shares. Zacks Research upgraded Ambev from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $2.88 target price on shares of Ambev in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted 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 valued at $80,410,000 after buying an additional 3,864,844 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Ambev by 9.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,505,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479,310 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ambev by 105.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,170,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,677,000 after acquiring an additional 8,312,561 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Ambev by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,409,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Ambev by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP now owns 11,045,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,632,000 after purchasing an additional 590,000 shares during the period. 8.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ambev Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:ABEV opened at $2.49 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.35. The company has a market cap of $39.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.70. Ambev has a twelve month low of $1.76 and a twelve month high of $2.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. Ambev had a net margin of 17.90% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.97 billion. Analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.049 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1,322.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

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.