Stephens Inc. AR Grows Stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,066 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,078 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Ambev were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in 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. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake 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 last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ambev by 18.3% in 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. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Ambev by 298.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 802,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 600,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ambev by 32.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,067,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 258,875 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ABEV. Barclays decreased 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. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ambev presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.45.

Ambev Stock Performance

Ambev stock opened at $1.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.20. Ambev S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $1.76 and a fifty-two week high of $2.72. The company has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.04.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.0414 per share. This represents a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Ambev’s payout ratio is 38.89%.

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.