Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Receives $2.35 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $2.35.

A number of research analysts have commented on ABEV shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $2.20 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Ambev to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ambev from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th.

Ambev Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE ABEV opened at $2.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.34. Ambev has a twelve month low of $1.76 and a twelve month high of $2.63. The stock has a market cap of $34.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.85.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.03. Ambev had a net margin of 16.18% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The business had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.84 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Ambev will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Ambev Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.023 per share. This is a positive change from Ambev’s previous — dividend of $0.02. This represents a yield of 660.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is 31.25%.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ambev by 9.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,505,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,288,000 after buying an additional 2,479,310 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ambev by 105.8% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,170,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,677,000 after buying an additional 8,312,561 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ambev by 6.4% during the first quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 15,439,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,973,000 after buying an additional 926,982 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Ambev by 74.8% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,409,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,624,000 after buying an additional 5,740,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ambev by 17.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,757,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,075,000 after buying an additional 1,170,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Ambev Company Profile

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.