Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 88,486,437 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 234% from the previous session’s volume of 26,484,584 shares.The stock last traded at $2.77 and had previously closed at $2.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on ABEV shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group set a $2.85 target price on Ambev in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ambev presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $3.08.

Ambev Trading Up 1.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.05. The company has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.65.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. Ambev had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 17.48%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ambev S.A. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be issued a $0.0092 dividend. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. Ambev’s payout ratio is presently 10.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ricardo Manuel Frangat Moreira sold 468,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.08, for a total transaction of $1,441,563.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,240,000. The trade was a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Ambev by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 172,969,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,235,000 after buying an additional 14,468,963 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Ambev by 291.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 45,462,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,293,000 after acquiring an additional 33,842,540 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Ambev by 9.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,505,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,479,310 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Ambev by 6.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,354,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in shares of Ambev by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 22,600,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,822,000 after purchasing an additional 874,657 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

About Ambev

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.