Brokerages Set Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Price Target at $3.08

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.0767.

Several brokerages recently commented on ABEV. Scotiabank cut shares of Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group set a $2.85 price target on shares of Ambev in a report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Ambev Stock Up 1.4%

ABEV stock opened at $2.87 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.65. Ambev has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $3.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.05.

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

Ambev Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.0092 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. Ambev’s payout ratio is presently 10.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ambev 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 value of $1,441,563.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $9,240,000. This represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Ambev during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Ambev in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ambev during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. S Harris Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Ambev during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Royal Palms Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ambev during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors 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.