Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) Stock Bumped Down to "Hold" by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Ambev from “buy” to “hold.” Overall analyst sentiment is cautious, with MarketBeat reporting an average “Reduce” rating and a $3.01 average price target.
• Ambev opened at $2.79, below its 50- and 200-day moving averages of $3.01 and $3.03, respectively.
• In its latest quarter, Ambev reported earnings of $0.05 per share, matching estimates, while revenue of $4.17 billion came in below the $4.21 billion consensus.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Ambev from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $3.30 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. UBS Group set a $2.85 price objective on Ambev in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ambev from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ambev from $3.50 to $3.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Ambev from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ambev presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $3.01.

Ambev Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:ABEV opened at $2.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.58. Ambev has a one year low of $2.28 and a one year high of $3.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $3.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.03.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Ambev had a return on equity of 18.13% and a net margin of 17.80%. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ambev will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ambev

In other Ambev news, insider Carla Smith De Vasconcellos Crippa Prado sold 60,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.09, for a total value of $187,739.13. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 80,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,384.63. This represents a 42.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ambev

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Ambev by 18.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,700,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,804,000 after acquiring an additional 566,949 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ambev by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 349,323,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,096,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,338,660 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its stake in Ambev by 712.8% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 1,837,660 shares of the company's stock worth $5,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,577 shares in the last quarter. Cook & Bynum Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ambev in the 2nd quarter worth $4,251,588. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Ambev by 61.5% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 872,694 shares of the company's stock worth $2,548,000 after purchasing an additional 332,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company's stock.

About Ambev

Ambev SA is a beverage company headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. It produces, distributes and sells beer and other beverages, including soft drinks, water and energy drinks. Its beer portfolio includes brands such as Brahma, Antarctica and Skol, as well as international brands marketed under license or through distribution agreements.

The company serves customers across Brazil and other markets in Latin America, including countries in South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

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