Assetmark Inc. Buys Shares of 39,397 Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 39,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ambev by 37.9% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 4,861 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 84,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 45.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 5,979 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 173,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 6,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 85,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 6,164 shares in the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ambev in a research note on Monday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup restated 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 on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.45.

Ambev Price Performance

Shares of Ambev stock opened at $2.31 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $1.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.12. Ambev S.A. has a 52 week low of $1.76 and a 52 week high of $2.56. The stock has a market cap of $36.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.94.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.01). Ambev had a return on equity of 16.12% and a net margin of 17.02%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 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.