Pzena Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV)

Pzena Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,227,442 shares of the company’s stock after selling 105,043 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Ambev worth $39,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABEV. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Ambev by 1.4% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,397,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,606,000 after purchasing an additional 18,842 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ambev by 6.0% during the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 129,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 7,294 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Ambev during the third quarter worth about $360,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ambev during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Ambev by 17.0% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 39,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 5,681 shares during the period. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABEV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ambev from $3.00 to $2.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3.03.

Ambev Price Performance

ABEV remained flat at $2.30 on Thursday. The company had a trading volume of 5,653,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,414,957. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $36.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.07. Ambev S.A. has a 52-week low of $2.23 and a 52-week high of $3.23.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter. Ambev had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 18.25%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ambev S.A. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ambev Company Profile

Ambev SA, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of beer, draft beer, carbonated soft drinks, other non-alcoholic beverages, malt, and food products. It offers beer primarily under the Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Brahva, Budweiser, Bud Light, Beck, Leffe and Hoegaarden, 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, Banks, Deputy, Patricia, Labatt Blue, Alexander Keith's, and Kokanee brands.