Perpetual Ltd Trims Holdings in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Perpetual Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,981,068 shares of the company's stock after selling 153,872 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Ambev were worth $6,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Ambev in the first quarter valued at about $925,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ambev by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 99,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 31,746 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ambev in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ambev by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,863,326 shares of the company's stock worth $4,342,000 after buying an additional 157,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Ambev by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 4,058,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,457,000 after purchasing an additional 475,419 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ambev Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:ABEV traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, hitting $2.42. The stock had a trading volume of 26,804,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,412,813. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $2.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.19. Ambev S.A. has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $2.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $38.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Ambev Cuts Dividend

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

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.