Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 173,932 Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,823,857 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 173,932 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP's holdings in Ambev were worth $14,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABEV. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ambev by 51.9% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 196,676,003 shares of the company's stock worth $363,851,000 after acquiring an additional 67,180,274 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Ambev by 1,641.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,001,985 shares of the company's stock worth $35,154,000 after acquiring an additional 17,911,122 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Ambev by 101.1% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 15,639,612 shares of the company's stock worth $29,512,000 after acquiring an additional 7,862,672 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ambev during the fourth quarter worth $13,412,000. Finally, CORDA Investment Management LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Ambev during the fourth quarter worth $11,987,000. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ABEV. StockNews.com began coverage on Ambev in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Bank of America downgraded Ambev from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group downgraded Ambev from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Ambev from $2.00 to $2.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Ambev from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ambev currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $2.70.

Ambev Stock Performance

Shares of ABEV traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $2.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,758,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,194,561. Ambev S.A. has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $2.64. The stock has a market cap of $39.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 17.02%. The company had revenue of $3.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.40 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.0219 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a dividend yield of 5%. Ambev's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.