Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $2.75.

ABEV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Ambev from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ambev from $3.20 to $2.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ambev from $3.00 to $2.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Ambev by 690.8% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 431,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 376,500 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its holdings in Ambev by 23.9% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 15,456,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,024,000 after buying an additional 2,982,621 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ambev by 53.3% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 56,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 19,496 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ambev by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 122,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 8,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Ambev by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 259,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 24,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Ambev Price Performance

Shares of ABEV opened at $2.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $2.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.31. Ambev has a 1-year low of $2.01 and a 1-year high of $3.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.06.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.56 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 17.93%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ambev will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

About Ambev

Ambev SA, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of beer, draft beer, carbonated soft drinks, other non-alcoholic beverages, malt, and food products. It offers beer primarily under the Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Brahva, Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck, Leffe and Hoegaarden, 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, Banks, Deputy, Patricia, Labatt Blue, Alexander Keith's, and Kokanee brands.