Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases 262,941 Shares of Ambev S.A. $ABEV

Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 402.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 328,262 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 262,941 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Ambev were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Ambev by 98.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,803,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887,987 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 10.0% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,455,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,720,000 after buying an additional 222,768 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Ambev by 9.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,080,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,848,000 after buying an additional 176,683 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Ambev by 17.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,757,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. boosted its stake in Ambev by 43.4% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 116,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 35,383 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ambev Price Performance

ABEV opened at $2.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $36.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.70. Ambev S.A. has a 12 month low of $1.76 and a 12 month high of $2.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.34.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.97 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 17.90%. On average, research analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.049 per share. This represents a yield of 1,465.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 22nd. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ABEV shares. Zacks Research raised Ambev from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $2.88 target price on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Monday, December 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.53.

About Ambev

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.