411,744 Shares in Ambev S.A. $ABEV Bought by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 411,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,017,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Ambev by 12.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 36,058,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,864,844 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ambev by 9.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,505,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,479,310 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Ambev by 74.8% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,409,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,624,000 after buying an additional 5,740,155 shares in the last quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP grew its position in Ambev by 5.6% in the third quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP now owns 11,045,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,632,000 after acquiring an additional 590,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Ambev by 14.1% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,521,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ambev

In other news, insider De Lacerda Eduardo Cavalcanti sold 152,386 shares of Ambev stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.85, for a total transaction of $434,300.10. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 223,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,519. This trade represents a 40.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ABEV shares. Weiss Ratings cut Ambev from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ambev from $2.65 to $2.90 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on Ambev from $3.00 to $3.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ambev from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $3.09.

Ambev Stock Performance

Ambev stock opened at $3.08 on Friday. Ambev S.A. has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $3.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.77. The stock has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.61.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 17.69%.The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.0092 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 24th. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 173.68%.

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.