Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Trading 4.1% Higher – Should You Buy?

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) shares rose 4.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $2.40 and last traded at $2.3950. Approximately 21,890,387 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 35,203,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ABEV. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $2.88 price objective on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ambev from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.53.

Ambev Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.70. 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.97 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 17.90%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.049 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 1,465.0%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ambev

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 17.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,757,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,397 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Ambev by 10.0% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,455,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,720,000 after purchasing an additional 222,768 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ambev by 98.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,803,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,863,000 after buying an additional 1,887,987 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Ambev during the second quarter worth about $362,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Ambev by 538.4% during the first quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 5,242,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,215,000 after purchasing an additional 4,421,534 shares during the last quarter. 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.