Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 25,193 Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 774,359 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,193 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ambev were worth $1,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Ambev in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Up 0.5 %

Ambev stock opened at $2.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1.86 and its 200-day moving average is $2.13. Ambev S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $1.76 and a fifty-two week high of $2.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The company 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 4.24%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.29%.

Ambev Company Profile

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.