Farringdon Capital Ltd. Takes Position in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 201,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Ambev by 35.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 78,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 20,599 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ambev by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 54,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 8,350 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Ambev by 298.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 802,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 600,545 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ambev by 9.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,425,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,438,000 after purchasing an additional 878,900 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Ambev by 29.0% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 103,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 23,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ABEV shares. StockNews.com began coverage on Ambev in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America cut shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Ambev from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.45.

Ambev Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Ambev stock opened at $2.41 on Friday. Ambev S.A. has a 52-week low of $1.76 and a 52-week high of $2.56. The stock has a market cap of $37.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.19 and a 200-day moving average of $2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). Ambev had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 17.02%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.0221 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.94%.

Ambev Company 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.