Laird Norton Wetherby Trust Company LLC Decreases Holdings in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Laird Norton Wetherby Trust Company LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,495 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Trust Company LLC’s holdings in Ambev were worth $39,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABEV. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Ambev by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 5,798 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Ambev by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 84,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its position in Ambev by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 20,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 5,993 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Ambev by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 173,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 6,078 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Ambev by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 85,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 6,164 shares during the period. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABEV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Ambev from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ambev presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABEV opened at $2.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $2.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.13. Ambev S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $1.76 and a fifty-two week high of $2.64. The company has a market cap of $39.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.80.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 17.02%. The business had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.40 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.0221 dividend. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.94%.

About Ambev

Ambev SA, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of beer, draft beer, carbonated soft drinks, malt and food, other alcoholic beverages, and non-alcoholic and non-carbonated products in Brazil, Central America and Caribbean, Latin America South, and Canada. It offers beer primarily under the Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Brahva, Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Balboa ICE, Balboa, Atlas Golden Light, Atlas, Bucanero, Cristal, Mayabe, Presidente, Presidente Light, Brahma Light, Bohemia, The One, Corona, Modelo Especial, Stella Artois, Quilmes Clásica, Paceña, Taquiña, Huari, Becker, Cusqueña, Michelob Ultra, Busch, Pilsen, Ouro Fino, Bud 66, Banks, Deputy, Patricia, Labatt Blue, Alexander Keith’s, and Kokanee brands.