Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank downgraded Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. UBS Group set a $2.85 target price on Ambev in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Bank of America downgraded Ambev from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $3.30 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Ambev from $3.50 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $3.01.

Ambev Price Performance

ABEV stock opened at $2.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Ambev has a 12-month low of $2.28 and a 12-month high of $3.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.02.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. Ambev had a net margin of 17.80% and a return on equity of 18.36%. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.21 billion. On average, analysts expect that Ambev will post 0.20 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.0092 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.00%.

Insider Activity at Ambev

In related news, insider Carla Smith De Vasconcellos Crippa Prado sold 60,757 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.09, for a total value of $187,739.13. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 80,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,384.63. The trade was a 42.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ambev by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 349,323,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,096,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338,660 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 6.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,354,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,900 shares during the last quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 2.2% in the third quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 10,779,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,477,000 after purchasing an additional 231,992 shares during the last quarter. Formuepleje A S bought a new position in shares of Ambev in the third quarter valued at approximately $23,610,000. Finally, DJE Kapital AG bought a new position in shares of Ambev in the first quarter valued at approximately $14,778,000. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Ambev News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ambev this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ambev’s board approved a new two-year program to repurchase up to 190 million shares. The company also completed a prior program and canceled 279 million repurchased shares, which could support per-share value by reducing the share count. Ambev share buyback program
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly earnings per share were $0.05, matching analyst expectations, while Ambev reported a 17.48% return on equity and an 18.47% net margin. Ambev fiscal third-quarter earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Ambev filed its October Form 6-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and discussed third-quarter results with analysts. The earnings-call materials provide additional detail on performance and the outlook, but the headline results were broadly in line with expectations. Ambev Form 6-K filing
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue of $4.17 billion fell short of the $4.21 billion consensus estimate, and reports characterized third-quarter profit as down 10%. The revenue miss and weaker profit trend likely outweighed the in-line EPS result. Ambev third-quarter profit report
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays lowered its price target for ABEV from $3.50 to $3.00 and maintained an “equal weight” rating. Although the new target still implies potential upside, the reduction signals more cautious expectations for the brewer’s growth and valuation. Barclays Ambev price target

About Ambev

Ambev SA is a Brazilian beverage company headquartered in São Paulo and one of the largest beverage producers in Latin America. Its principal business is the production, distribution and sale of beer, although it also offers soft drinks, carbonated beverages, bottled water, energy drinks and other non-alcoholic products.

The company’s beer portfolio includes brands such as Brahma, Skol, Antarctica, Bohemia, Original, Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, with brand availability varying by market.