Brandes Investment Partners LP Sells 2,399,145 Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Brandes Investment Partners LP reduced its position in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,746,639 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,399,145 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.09% of Ambev worth $27,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ambev by 84.3% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 214,565 shares of the company's stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 98,162 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Ambev by 62.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 55,400 shares of the company's stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 21,300 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ambev by 37.9% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,685 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 4,861 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ambev by 32.0% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ambev by 45.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,227 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 5,979 shares during the period. 8.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America cut shares of Ambev from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Ambev in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Three equities research 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 currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABEV traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.37. 38,013,974 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,748,128. The stock has a market cap of $37.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.12. Ambev S.A. has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $2.56. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.42 billion. Ambev had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 16.12%. On average, analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.0221 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. Ambev's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.94%.

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.