Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group set a $2.85 target price on shares of Ambev in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Scotiabank cut shares of Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $3.08.

Ambev Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ABEV opened at $2.87 on Friday. Ambev has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $3.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.05. The company has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 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.

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

Insider Transactions at Ambev

In related news, Director Ricardo Manuel Frangat Moreira sold 468,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.08, for a total transaction of $1,441,563.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,240,000. This represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Ambev by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,700,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,804,000 after purchasing an additional 566,949 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in Ambev by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 967,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,824,000 after purchasing an additional 370,112 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Ambev by 61.5% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 872,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,548,000 after purchasing an additional 332,425 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Ambev by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,354,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Ambev by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 22,600,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,822,000 after purchasing an additional 874,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

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.