Brokerages Set Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Target Price at $3.09

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.0933.

ABEV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays raised their target price on Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th.

Ambev Stock Up 1.5%

ABEV stock opened at $3.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.02. Ambev has a 12 month low of $2.10 and a 12 month high of $3.45. The company has a market cap of $49.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.64.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 17.69%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ambev will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.0092 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ambev

In related news, insider Paulo Andre Zagman sold 136,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.41, for a total transaction of $464,612.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 230,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,124.35. This trade represents a 37.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its stake 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 buying an additional 33,842,540 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ambev by 9.1% during the fourth 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 9,361,815 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Ambev by 74.8% in 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 during the period. Finally, DJE Kapital AG acquired a new position in Ambev during the 1st quarter worth $14,778,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

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.