Ambev S.A. $ABEV Stake Raised by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 115.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 326,500 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 175,000 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Ambev were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABEV. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its position in Ambev by 187.7% during the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 2,128,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388,881 shares in the last quarter. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV purchased a new stake in Ambev in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,727,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ambev by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,588,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,805,000 after buying an additional 1,638,227 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Ambev by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 22,600,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,822,000 after buying an additional 874,657 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,488,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,147,000 after acquiring an additional 174,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

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 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Ambev Stock Up 0.8%

ABEV stock opened at $3.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $48.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.64. Ambev S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.10 and a 1 year high of $3.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Ambev had a net margin of 17.69% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ambev S.A. will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.0092 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.