UBS Group AG Decreases Stock Holdings in Ambev S.A. $ABEV

UBS Group AG trimmed its holdings in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,758,217 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229,987 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Ambev were worth $14,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Ambev by 12.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 36,058,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,410,000 after acquiring an additional 3,864,844 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ambev by 9.9% during the second 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 last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Ambev by 74.8% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,409,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,740,155 shares during the last quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Ambev by 5.6% during the third quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP now owns 11,045,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,632,000 after acquiring an additional 590,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ambev by 14.1% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,521,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,503 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ambev

In other news, insider De Lacerda Eduardo Cavalcanti sold 152,386 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total value of $434,300.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 223,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,519. This trade represents a 40.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Ambev Stock Performance

NYSE:ABEV opened at $3.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.76. Ambev S.A. has a 1 year low of $2.10 and a 1 year high of $3.45. The company has a market capitalization of $49.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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. On average, analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be issued a $0.0092 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 173.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABEV. Wall Street Zen raised Ambev from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group set a $2.65 target price on Ambev and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays raised their target price on Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $3.01.

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.