Investors Buy Large Volume of Ambev Call Options (NYSE:ABEV)

Key Points

• Ambev call-option activity surged: Investors bought 2,166 call options, roughly 814% above the average daily volume of 237. The stock rose $0.30 to $3.29 during Monday trading.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Recent ratings included downgrades from “buy” to “hold” and “sector outperform” to “sector perform”; MarketBeat reports a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $3.08.
• Institutional ownership increased while an insider sold shares: Several investment firms added to their Ambev positions, and institutional investors collectively own 8.13% of the company. Director Manuel Moreira sold 468,040 shares for approximately $1.44 million, reducing his ownership by 13.5%.

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 2,166 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 814% compared to the average daily volume of 237 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ambev

In related news, Director Manuel Moreira sold 468,040 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.08, for a total value of $1,441,563.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,000,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,240,000. This represents a 13.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DJE Kapital AG bought a new position in Ambev during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,778,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $1,096,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338,660 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Ambev by 6.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,354,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,900 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in Ambev by 712.8% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Cook & Bynum Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ambev during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,251,588. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ABEV. UBS Group set a $2.85 price target on shares of Ambev in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ambev from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Ambev from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Ambev in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $3.08.

Ambev Price Performance

Shares of ABEV stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $3.29. 14,140,781 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,286,082. The company has a market capitalization of $51.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Ambev has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $3.45. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $2.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.04.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.04. Ambev had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 17.48%. The company had revenue of $3.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.05 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.0092 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. Ambev's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.00%.

Ambev Company 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, nonalcoholic beverages and other drink products through a portfolio that includes brands such as Brahma, Skol, Antarctica, Bohemia, Budweiser, Stella Artois and Guaraná Antarctica.

Founded in 1999 through the merger of Companhia Antarctica Paulista and Companhia Cervejaria Brahma, Ambev became part of Anheuser-Busch InBev following the latter's combination with Anheuser-Busch in 2008.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.