Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Receives $2.84 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $2.8433.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $2.65 target price on shares of Ambev and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ambev from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th.

Ambev Stock Up 0.2%

Ambev stock opened at $3.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.66. The company has a market cap of $48.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.97, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.66. Ambev has a fifty-two week low of $2.10 and a fifty-two week high of $3.24.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Ambev had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 16.41%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ambev news, insider De Lacerda Eduardo Cavalcanti sold 152,386 shares of Ambev 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 sale, the insider owned 223,340 shares in the company, valued at $636,519. The trade was a 40.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Ambev by 291.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 45,462,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,293,000 after buying an additional 33,842,540 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ambev by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 172,969,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,235,000 after buying an additional 14,468,963 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ambev by 248.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,135,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,445,000 after buying an additional 9,361,815 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Ambev by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,409,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,624,000 after buying an additional 5,740,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Ambev by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 36,058,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,410,000 after buying an additional 3,864,844 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.