CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Purchases 36,736 Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its position in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 50.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,997 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,736 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Ambev were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Ambev by 51.9% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 196,676,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,851,000 after purchasing an additional 67,180,274 shares during the last quarter. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ambev in the fourth quarter valued at $38,602,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Ambev by 1,641.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,001,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,154,000 after buying an additional 17,911,122 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Ambev by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,087,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,262,000 after buying an additional 17,440,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Ambev by 329.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 16,354,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,255,000 after buying an additional 12,546,800 shares in the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ambev Trading Down 0.8%

ABEV opened at $2.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.17. Ambev S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $1.76 and a fifty-two week high of $2.64. The company has a market cap of $38.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.76. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.40 billion. Ambev had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 16.12%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.0219 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a yield of 5%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABEV shares. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on shares of Ambev in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Ambev from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ambev from $2.60 to $2.70 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ambev from $2.00 to $2.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ambev currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.60.

Ambev 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.