Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $1.43 Million Stock Position in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 774,359 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,193 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ambev were worth $1,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABEV. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Ambev by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,519,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,892,000 after buying an additional 5,283,746 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Ambev in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,630,000. Meritage Portfolio Management acquired a new position in Ambev in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,645,000. Seafarer Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Ambev by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Seafarer Capital Partners LLC now owns 30,069,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,368,000 after buying an additional 1,770,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Ambev in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,259,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ambev in a report on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Performance

Shares of Ambev stock opened at $2.08 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.86 and a 200-day moving average of $2.13. Ambev S.A. has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $2.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $32.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 1.04.

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). Ambev had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 17.02%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.42 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.0221 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ambev’s dividend payout ratio is 35.29%.

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.