Brandes Investment Partners LP Increases Holdings in Ambev S.A. $ABEV

Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,600,124 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 874,657 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Ambev were worth $55,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ambev in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Monument Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Ambev in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ambev in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ambev in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Royal Palms Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ambev in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ambev Price Performance

NYSE:ABEV opened at $3.12 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $3.11 and its 200 day moving average is $2.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Ambev S.A. has a 12 month low of $2.10 and a 12 month high of $3.45. The company has a market capitalization of $49.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.64.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 17.69%.The company had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ambev S.A. will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.0092 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. Ambev’s payout ratio is presently 57.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ambev news, insider De Lacerda Eduardo Cavalcanti sold 152,386 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total transaction of $434,300.10. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,519. The trade was a 40.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABEV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ambev from $2.65 to $2.90 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ambev from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $3.09.

Ambev 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.