Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Sells 375,816 Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lessened its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 86.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 375,816 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Ambev were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 9.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,425,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,438,000 after acquiring an additional 878,900 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 132.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,976,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127,719 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ambev by 18.3% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 54,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 8,350 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ambev by 298.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 802,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after buying an additional 600,545 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ambev by 32.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,067,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after buying an additional 258,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABEV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays cut their price target on Ambev from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Ambev in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of ABEV opened at $2.24 on Friday. Ambev S.A. has a one year low of $1.76 and a one year high of $2.58. The company has a market cap of $35.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.13.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.01). Ambev had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.42 billion. Research analysts forecast that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.0221 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.