Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its holdings in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV - Free Report) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,352,608 shares of the company's stock after selling 903,304 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc's holdings in Ambev were worth $6,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ambev by 35.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 78,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 20,599 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ambev by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 54,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 8,350 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ambev by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,425,374 shares of the company's stock worth $25,438,000 after purchasing an additional 878,900 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 23.9% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 196,594 shares of the company's stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 37,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Ambev by 76.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 22,880 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABEV. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ambev in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut Ambev from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America lowered Ambev from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on Ambev from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ambev has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $2.45.

Ambev Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ABEV traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2.46. The stock had a trading volume of 22,079,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,017,819. Ambev S.A. has a 12-month low of $1.76 and a 12-month high of $2.56. The firm has a market cap of $38.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.68. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $2.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.12.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). Ambev had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 17.02%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.42 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.0221 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Ambev's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.94%.

Ambev Company 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.