Wall Street Zen Upgrades Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) to Buy

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ambev in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ambev from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $2.88 price objective on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ambev has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.69.

Ambev Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABEV opened at $3.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $48.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.65. Ambev has a 12 month low of $1.87 and a 12 month high of $3.23.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ambev by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ambev by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its position in Ambev by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 100,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 4,237 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Ambev by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 140,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 4,557 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 240,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the period. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.