Brandes Investment Partners LP Sells 2,399,145 Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Brandes Investment Partners LP reduced its holdings in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,746,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,399,145 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Ambev were worth $27,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ambev by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,425,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,438,000 after buying an additional 878,900 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Ambev by 132.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,976,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,822,000 after buying an additional 1,127,719 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased 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 buying an additional 8,350 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Ambev by 298.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 802,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after buying an additional 600,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ambev by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,067,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after buying an additional 258,875 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ABEV. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Up 2.9 %

Ambev stock opened at $2.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $1.93 and its 200-day moving average is $2.12. Ambev S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $1.76 and a fifty-two week high of $2.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.0221 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.