Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 14.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 339,069 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,722 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ambev were worth $790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ABEV. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ambev by 51.9% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 196,676,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,851,000 after acquiring an additional 67,180,274 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Ambev by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,087,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,262,000 after purchasing an additional 17,440,564 shares during the last quarter. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ambev in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,602,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Ambev by 1,641.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 19,001,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,154,000 after purchasing an additional 17,911,122 shares during the period. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 18,614,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,436,000 after buying an additional 880,763 shares during the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABEV shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ambev from $2.00 to $2.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley cut Ambev from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ambev from $2.60 to $2.70 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.60.

Ambev Trading Down 0.2%

Ambev stock opened at $2.49 on Friday. Ambev S.A. has a 1 year low of $1.76 and a 1 year high of $2.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $2.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $39.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.74.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04. Ambev had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.40 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.0219 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a dividend yield of 5%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.75%.

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.