Ethic Inc. Boosts Holdings in Ambev S.A. $ABEV

Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 650,576 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 51,594 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Ambev were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Ambev by 105.8% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,170,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,677,000 after buying an additional 8,312,561 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ambev by 6.4% during the first quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 15,439,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,973,000 after purchasing an additional 926,982 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 17.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,757,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,397 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 538.4% in the first quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 5,242,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,215,000 after purchasing an additional 4,421,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 13.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,000,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,650,000 after purchasing an additional 582,153 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABEV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ambev from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $2.20 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Ambev to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ambev presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $2.35.

Ambev Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:ABEV opened at $2.19 on Friday. Ambev S.A. has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $2.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $2.23 and a 200 day moving average of $2.34. The firm has a market cap of $34.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03. Ambev had a net margin of 16.18% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.84 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.023 dividend. This is a boost from Ambev’s previous — dividend of $0.02. This represents a yield of 660.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.25%.

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.