Analysts Set Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) PT at $3.20

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $3.20.

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABEV. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Ambev in a report on Friday, January 26th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays cut shares of Ambev from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $3.50 to $3.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Ambev Trading Up 1.1 %

ABEV stock opened at $2.33 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.08. Ambev has a twelve month low of $2.23 and a twelve month high of $3.23.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter. Ambev had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 17.60%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ambev by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 312,980,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,344,000 after buying an additional 2,955,528 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ambev by 3.1% during the third quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC now owns 107,182,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,531,000 after buying an additional 3,229,411 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ambev by 10.1% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 65,003,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,210,000 after buying an additional 5,943,974 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP lifted its position in shares of Ambev by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 51,517,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,494,000 after buying an additional 5,699,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Ambev by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 35,461,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,292,000 after buying an additional 143,355 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ambev Company Profile

Ambev SA, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of beer, draft beer, carbonated soft drinks, other non-alcoholic beverages, malt, and food products. It offers beer primarily under the Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Brahva, Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck, Leffe and Hoegaarden, 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, Banks, Deputy, Patricia, Labatt Blue, Alexander Keith's, and Kokanee brands.