Van ECK Associates Corp Has $3.49 Million Holdings in Ambev S.A. $ABEV

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 26.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,110,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 398,036 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ambev were worth $3,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Ambev by 291.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 45,462,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,293,000 after buying an additional 33,842,540 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 172,969,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,235,000 after acquiring an additional 14,468,963 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ambev by 248.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,135,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,445,000 after acquiring an additional 9,361,815 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in Ambev by 74.8% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,409,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,740,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DJE Kapital AG bought a new stake in Ambev during the first quarter worth about $14,778,000. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ABEV shares. UBS Group set a $2.85 price target 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 report on Saturday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ambev has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Manuel Moreira sold 468,040 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.08, for a total value of $1,441,563.20. Following the sale, the director owned 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,240,000. This represents a 13.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ambev Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:ABEV opened at $3.05 on Friday. Ambev S.A. has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $3.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $48.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.05.

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

Ambev Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.0092 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ambev’s payout ratio is presently 10.00%.

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.