TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Purchases 132,439 Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV - Free Report) by 812.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,739 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 132,439 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings in Ambev were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Ambev by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,625 shares of the company's stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 22,880 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ambev by 15.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 126,269 shares of the company's stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 268.7% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 52,344 shares of the company's stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 38,146 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ambev by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 599,291 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 31,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winthrop Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Ambev by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,634 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 9,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ABEV. UBS Group downgraded Ambev from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lowered Ambev from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Ambev in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Performance

Shares of ABEV traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 70,834,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,631,849. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.68. The stock's 50-day moving average is $2.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.12. Ambev S.A. has a one year low of $1.76 and a one year high of $2.58.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV - Get Free Report) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.0221 per share. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ambev's 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.