Ambev Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ABEV)

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 4,854 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 494% compared to the typical volume of 817 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABEV. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Ambev during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,399,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,591,000 after purchasing an additional 922,566 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ambev by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,000,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,650,000 after purchasing an additional 582,153 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Ambev during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ambev during the 1st quarter valued at $264,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABEV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Ambev from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $2.88 target price on shares of Ambev in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.69.

Ambev Stock Down 4.2%

NYSE ABEV opened at $2.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.50. Ambev has a one year low of $2.06 and a one year high of $3.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $46.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.64.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Ambev had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The company had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ambev will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 22nd were given a dividend of $0.049 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1,465.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 22nd. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.33%.

Ambev Company Profile

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.