Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 398,036 Shares of Ambev S.A. $ABEV

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,110,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 398,036 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ambev were worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Ambev in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Ambev during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ambev in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. S Harris Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Ambev in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Royal Palms Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ambev in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ambev news, Director Manuel Moreira sold 468,040 shares of Ambev 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 owned 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $9,240,000. The trade was a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ambev Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of ABEV opened at $3.05 on Friday. Ambev S.A. has a one year low of $2.10 and a one year high of $3.45. The company has a market cap of $48.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.05.

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

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.0092 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABEV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Scotiabank cut shares of Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $2.85 price target on shares of Ambev in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $3.08.

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.