Wall Street Zen Downgrades Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) to Hold

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ABEV. Weiss Ratings raised Ambev from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ambev from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ambev currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.69.

Ambev Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of ABEV stock opened at $2.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.64. Ambev has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $3.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.59.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Ambev had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Ambev will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ambev

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Ambev by 291.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 45,462,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,293,000 after buying an additional 33,842,540 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Ambev by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 172,969,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,235,000 after buying an additional 14,468,963 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ambev by 248.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,135,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,445,000 after acquiring an additional 9,361,815 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in Ambev by 74.8% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,409,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,740,155 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Ambev by 12.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 36,058,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,410,000 after acquiring an additional 3,864,844 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Ambev Company Profile

Ambev (NYSE: ABEV) is a Brazilian-based beverage company that produces, distributes and markets a broad portfolio of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The company’s core business centers on brewing and selling beer, alongside a range of soft drinks, bottled water, energy drinks and other malt-based beverages. Headquartered in São Paulo, Ambev operates an integrated value chain that covers manufacturing, packaging, logistics and commercial sales to retail, on-premise and institutional customers.

The company traces its origins to the 1999 merger of two historic Brazilian breweries, and later became part of the broader global brewing group through subsequent industry consolidations.