Royal Bank of Canada Sells 337,641 Shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV $BUD

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its position in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 7.9%, owning approximately 3.95 million shares valued at $243.29 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments on the stock, with BNP Paribas upgrading it to a "strong-buy" rating while Wall Street Zen downgraded it to a "hold" rating.
• Anheuser-Busch InBev's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $0.98, beating estimates, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 2.1%.

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD - Free Report) by 7.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,952,079 shares of the consumer goods maker's stock after selling 337,641 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.22% of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV worth $243,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BUD. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 2.8% during the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 41,116,138 shares of the consumer goods maker's stock valued at $2,531,109,000 after buying an additional 1,119,308 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 237.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 343,102 shares of the consumer goods maker's stock valued at $17,179,000 after buying an additional 241,300 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 34.0% during the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 763,800 shares of the consumer goods maker's stock valued at $47,020,000 after buying an additional 193,800 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 7.3% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 2,790,240 shares of the consumer goods maker's stock worth $171,767,000 after purchasing an additional 190,830 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV by 24.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 929,927 shares of the consumer goods maker's stock worth $57,246,000 after purchasing an additional 184,749 shares during the period. 5.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BUD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.10 to $88.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $71.50.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Trading Up 1.7%

BUD stock traded up $1.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,073,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,959,581. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV has a 52 week low of $45.94 and a 52 week high of $72.13. The company has a market cap of $108.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.47 and a 200 day moving average of $64.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The consumer goods maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV had a net margin of 12.16% and a return on equity of 16.21%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV Company Profile

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV produces, distributes, exports, markets, and sells beer and beverages. It offers a portfolio of approximately 500 beer brands, which primarily include Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois; Beck's, Hoegaarden, Leffe, and Michelob Ultra; and Aguila, Antarctica, Bud Light, Brahma, Cass, Castle, Castle Lite, Cristal, Harbin, Jupiler, Modelo Especial, Quilmes, Victoria, Sedrin, and Skol brands.