Ambev S.A. $ABEV Shares Sold by State Street Corp

Key Points

• State Street reduced its Ambev stake by 6.5% in the second quarter, selling 576,607 shares and retaining 8.28 million shares worth approximately $26.4 million. Institutional and hedge-fund investors collectively own 8.13% of Ambev.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Ambev has a consensus rating of “Reduce,” with five Hold ratings and one Sell rating, and a consensus price target of $3.08. Scotiabank and Wall Street Zen recently downgraded the stock to Hold-equivalent ratings.
• Ambev reported quarterly EPS of $0.04, in line with estimates, while revenue of $3.89 billion fell short of the $4.05 billion forecast. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.0092 per share, representing an annualized yield of about 1.3%.

State Street Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV - Free Report) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,283,804 shares of the company's stock after selling 576,607 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned 0.05% of Ambev worth $26,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ambev by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 146,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 23,441 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Ambev during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $770,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in Ambev by 712.8% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 1,837,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,577 shares during the period. Maven Securities LTD bought a new stake in shares of Ambev in the second quarter valued at approximately $628,000. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ambev by 1.3% in the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 349,336 shares of the company's stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 4,437 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Manuel Moreira sold 468,040 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.08, for a total value of $1,441,563.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,240,000. The trade was a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ABEV shares. Scotiabank cut shares of Ambev from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Ambev from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $2.85 price target on Ambev in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ambev has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $3.08.

Ambev Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABEV opened at $2.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.97 and a 200-day moving average of $3.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.64. Ambev S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $2.10 and a fifty-two week high of $3.45.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.04. Ambev had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 17.48%. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ambev S.A. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.0092 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ambev's dividend payout ratio is 15.00%.

Ambev Profile

Ambev SA is a Brazilian beverage company and one of the largest brewers in Latin America. The company produces, distributes and sells beer, carbonated soft drinks and other nonalcoholic beverages through a portfolio of local, regional and international brands.

Its beer portfolio includes brands such as Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Bohemia, Original, Stella Artois and Budweiser, while its nonalcoholic beverage offerings include products marketed under brands such as Guaraná Antarctica and Pepsi.

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