SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Position in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,640 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,529 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Ambev were worth $117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Ambev by 83.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,802,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,389,000 after buying an additional 2,188,454 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in Ambev by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 5,224,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after buying an additional 254,347 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in Ambev by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 1,388,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after buying an additional 17,863 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC increased its position in Ambev by 3.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Ambev by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 12,195,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,464,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013,914 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABEV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Ambev in a research note on Friday, January 26th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays downgraded Ambev from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $3.50 to $3.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3.20.

Ambev Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of ABEV opened at $2.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $2.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Ambev S.A. has a 52 week low of $2.23 and a 52 week high of $3.23.

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

Ambev 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.