Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 55.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 315,451 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 112,616 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Ambev were worth $584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Ambev by 9.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,425,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,438,000 after acquiring an additional 878,900 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 8,350 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 14,512,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,882 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Ambev by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 22,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ambev by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 13,063,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,168,000 after buying an additional 552,220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABEV has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ambev from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Ambev from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America lowered shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Ambev in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ambev has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Up 3.2 %

NYSE ABEV opened at $2.41 on Monday. Ambev S.A. has a 1 year low of $1.76 and a 1 year high of $2.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average is $2.19 and its 200 day moving average is $2.11.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.42 billion. Ambev had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 17.02%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.0221 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.94%.

About Ambev

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.