Balentine LLC Boosts Position in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Balentine LLC boosted its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 218,144 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,566 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Ambev were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ambev during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ambev during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ambev during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ambev by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 12,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 4,238 shares during the period. Finally, HTLF Bank bought a new stake in Ambev during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Ambev Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ABEV stock traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $2.37. 8,380,602 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,890,867. Ambev S.A. has a 52 week low of $2.23 and a 52 week high of $3.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.61.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter. Ambev had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 18.25%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com raised Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Ambev from $3.00 to $2.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3.03.

Ambev Company Profile

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.