Cook & Bynum Capital Management LLC Makes New $4.25 Billion Investment in Ambev S.A. $ABEV

Cook & Bynum Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,354,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,251,588,000. Ambev comprises 3.2% of Cook & Bynum Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Ambev during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Ambev by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,399,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,591,000 after acquiring an additional 922,566 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Ambev by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,000,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,650,000 after acquiring an additional 582,153 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Ambev during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ambev during the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ambev news, Director Ricardo Manuel Frangat Moreira sold 468,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.08, for a total value of $1,441,563.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,240,000. This represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABEV shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays raised their price target on Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $2.85 target price on Ambev in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.08.

Ambev Stock Performance

NYSE:ABEV opened at $2.94 on Wednesday. Ambev S.A. has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $3.45. The company has a market capitalization of $46.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.05.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 18.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.0092 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.00%.

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.