Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Has $1.96 Million Stock Holdings in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV - Free Report) by 4,989.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 838,883 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 822,399 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Ambev were worth $1,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Ambev by 185.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 34,678 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 22,531 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Ambev by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,085,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,008,000 after purchasing an additional 298,000 shares during the last quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its stake in Ambev by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 13,063,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,168,000 after acquiring an additional 552,220 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Ambev by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 84,868 shares of the company's stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CORDA Investment Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ambev during the fourth quarter worth $11,987,000. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABEV shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Ambev from $2.60 to $2.70 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ambev from $2.00 to $2.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered Ambev from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Ambev in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ambev presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $2.60.

Ambev Stock Performance

ABEV traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,374,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,950,954. The stock has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Ambev S.A. has a twelve month low of $1.76 and a twelve month high of $2.64.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.40 billion. Ambev had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 14.74%. Research analysts expect that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.0219 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a yield of 5%. Ambev's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.75%.

Ambev 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.