Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as “Underperform” by Bank of America

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating restated by equities researchers at Bank of America in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $3.30 price objective on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 3.94% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Scotiabank cut Ambev from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group set a $2.85 price target on Ambev in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ambev has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $3.13.

Ambev Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of ABEV stock traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $3.18. The company had a trading volume of 7,366,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,427,891. The firm has a market cap of $50.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.02. Ambev has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $3.45.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 18.47%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 173,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 3,702 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 62,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 4,121 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 349,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 4,437 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 4,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 150,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420 shares in the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ambev

Ambev SA is a Brazilian beverage company and one of the largest brewers in Latin America. The company produces, distributes and sells beer, carbonated soft drinks, nonalcoholic beverages and other drink products through a portfolio that includes brands such as Brahma, Skol, Antarctica, Bohemia, Budweiser, Stella Artois and Guaraná Antarctica.

Founded in 1999 through the merger of Companhia Antarctica Paulista and Companhia Cervejaria Brahma, Ambev became part of Anheuser-Busch InBev following the latter’s combination with Anheuser-Busch in 2008.