RWC Asset Management LLP Sells 860,648 Shares of Ambev S.A. $ABEV

RWC Asset Management LLP lessened its holdings in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,968,634 shares of the company’s stock after selling 860,648 shares during the quarter. Ambev makes up approximately 1.2% of RWC Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Ambev were worth $24,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Ambev by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,505,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479,310 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Ambev by 74.8% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,409,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740,155 shares during the period. Foundation Resource Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ambev by 0.8% in the third quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 6,883,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,350,000 after purchasing an additional 57,129 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ambev by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,000,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,650,000 after buying an additional 582,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 192.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,208,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,142,000 after buying an additional 2,770,698 shares during the period. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Ambev from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $2.88 target price on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $2.53.

Ambev Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ABEV stock opened at $2.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.67. Ambev S.A. has a 1 year low of $1.77 and a 1 year high of $2.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.35.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.97 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 17.90%. On average, research analysts predict that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd were issued a $0.049 dividend. This represents a yield of 1,465.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 22nd. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.33%.

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.