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

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.0933.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ABEV shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ambev from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Ambev Price Performance

NYSE:ABEV opened at $3.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.64. Ambev has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $3.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3.12 and a 200 day moving average of $2.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 17.69%. On average, research analysts expect that Ambev will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Ambev

In other Ambev news, insider De Lacerda Eduardo Cavalcanti sold 152,386 shares of Ambev stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total transaction of $434,300.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 223,340 shares in the company, valued at $636,519. The trade was a 40.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amundi lifted its position in Ambev by 19.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 587,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 93,698 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 18.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,700,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,804,000 after acquiring an additional 566,949 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ambev during the first quarter worth approximately $82,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 6.5% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,354,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 39.9% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 201,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 57,516 shares in the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.