American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 135,132 Shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,232,357 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 135,132 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Ambev were worth $4,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ambev by 9.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Ambev by 132.9% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,976,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,719 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ambev by 18.3% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 54,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 8,350 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 600,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ambev by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 14,512,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,848,000 after buying an additional 1,083,882 shares during the period. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABEV shares. Barclays decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Ambev in a report on Monday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE ABEV opened at $2.31 on Friday. Ambev S.A. has a 12-month low of $1.76 and a 12-month high of $2.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $36.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.0221 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Ambev’s payout ratio is presently 52.94%.

Ambev 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.