Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $2.75.

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABEV. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Ambev from $3.20 to $2.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Ambev in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

Ambev Price Performance

ABEV stock opened at $2.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 1.05. Ambev has a 52-week low of $2.01 and a 52-week high of $3.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.03. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 17.93%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ambev will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABEV. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 10.1% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 65,003,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,210,000 after buying an additional 5,943,974 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Ambev by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 34,133,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,973,000 after acquiring an additional 7,412,395 shares during the period. Seafarer Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Ambev by 12.3% during the second quarter. Seafarer Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,299,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,013,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,000 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ambev by 29.4% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,385,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,690,000 after purchasing an additional 4,179,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in shares of Ambev by 23.9% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 15,456,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,024,000 after purchasing an additional 2,982,621 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

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.