Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,250,000 shares, a drop of 26.5% from the February 28th total of 39,800,000 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 36,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Ambev by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 296,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 55,606 shares during the period. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ambev during the fourth quarter worth about $751,000. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Ambev in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,602,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ambev during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Ambev in the 4th quarter worth approximately $801,000. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABEV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Ambev in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America downgraded Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABEV traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.35. 22,031,048 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,291,926. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $2.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Ambev has a 12 month low of $1.76 and a 12 month high of $2.56.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $22.42 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Ambev will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.0221 dividend. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio 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.