UBS Group AG Sells 229,987 Shares of Ambev S.A. $ABEV

UBS Group AG decreased its holdings in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,758,217 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229,987 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Ambev were worth $14,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ambev by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 93,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 14,660 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in Ambev by 82.6% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 42,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 19,171 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,388,881 shares during the period. Leisure Capital Management bought a new stake in Ambev during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its stake in Ambev by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 73,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 37,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Ambev Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of ABEV stock opened at $3.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $3.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.76. Ambev S.A. has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $3.45. The firm has a market cap of $49.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid 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 yield of 1.2%. Ambev’s payout ratio is 173.68%.

Insider Transactions at Ambev

In other Ambev news, insider De Lacerda Eduardo Cavalcanti sold 152,386 shares of Ambev stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total transaction of $434,300.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 223,340 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Ambev from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group set a $2.65 price objective on Ambev and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $3.01.

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.