Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Shares Purchased by Motco

Motco grew its stake in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 255,971 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,900 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in Ambev were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,425,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,438,000 after purchasing an additional 878,900 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 132.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,976,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,719 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 54,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 8,350 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 298.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 802,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 600,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,067,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 258,875 shares in the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABEV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ambev currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Down 2.1 %

ABEV stock opened at $2.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.20. Ambev S.A. has a one year low of $1.76 and a one year high of $2.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.14.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.01). Ambev had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.0221 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

About Ambev

Ambev SA, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of beer, draft beer, carbonated soft drinks, malt and food, other alcoholic beverages, and non-alcoholic and non-carbonated products in Brazil, Central America and Caribbean, Latin America South, and Canada. It offers beer primarily under the Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Brahva, Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Balboa ICE, Balboa, Atlas Golden Light, Atlas, Bucanero, Cristal, Mayabe, Presidente, Presidente Light, Brahma Light, Bohemia, The One, Corona, Modelo Especial, Stella Artois, Quilmes Clásica, Paceña, Taquiña, Huari, Becker, Cusqueña, Michelob Ultra, Busch, Pilsen, Ouro Fino, Bud 66, Banks, Deputy, Patricia, Labatt Blue, Alexander Keith’s, and Kokanee brands.