Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 1,674,900 Shares of Ambev S.A. $ABEV

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,354,300 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,674,900 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Ambev were worth $79,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABEV. Monument Capital Management acquired a new stake in Ambev in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Ambev during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Ambev during the first quarter worth about $26,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ambev in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, S Harris Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ambev in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paulo Andre Zagman sold 136,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.41, for a total value of $464,612.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 230,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,124.35. This represents a 37.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ambev Stock Performance

Shares of ABEV stock opened at $3.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3.14 and a 200-day moving average of $3.01. Ambev S.A. has a 52 week low of $2.10 and a 52 week high of $3.45. The company has a market cap of $48.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 17.69%.The company had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ambev S.A. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.2%. Ambev’s payout ratio is presently 10.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABEV shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ambev from $2.65 to $2.90 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Barclays increased their target price on Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Scotiabank cut Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.09.

Ambev 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.