Brokerages Set Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) PT at $2.60

Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $2.60.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ambev from $2.00 to $2.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Ambev in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ambev from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ambev from $2.60 to $2.70 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in Ambev by 51.9% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 196,676,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,851,000 after buying an additional 67,180,274 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Ambev by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,087,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,262,000 after buying an additional 17,440,564 shares during the period. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Ambev during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,602,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Ambev by 1,641.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,001,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,154,000 after buying an additional 17,911,122 shares during the period. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ambev by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 18,614,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,436,000 after buying an additional 880,763 shares during the period. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ambev Price Performance

ABEV stock opened at $2.34 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Ambev has a 12 month low of $1.76 and a 12 month high of $2.64. The firm has a market cap of $36.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $2.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.23.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.04. Ambev had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.40 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.0219 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a dividend yield of 5%. Ambev’s payout ratio is currently 68.75%.

Ambev Company Profile

Ambev SA, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of beer, draft beer, carbonated soft drinks, malt and food, other alcoholic beverages, and non-alcoholic and non-carbonated products in Brazil, Central America and Caribbean, Latin America South, and Canada. It offers beer primarily under the Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Brahva, Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Balboa ICE, Balboa, Atlas Golden Light, Atlas, Bucanero, Cristal, Mayabe, Presidente, Presidente Light, Brahma Light, Bohemia, The One, Corona, Modelo Especial, Stella Artois, Quilmes Clásica, Paceña, Taquiña, Huari, Becker, Cusqueña, Michelob Ultra, Busch, Pilsen, Ouro Fino, Bud 66, Banks, Deputy, Patricia, Labatt Blue, Alexander Keith’s, and Kokanee brands.