Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 38,290,000 shares, an increase of 21.4% from the January 31st total of 31,550,000 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 36,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Institutional Trading of Ambev

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,425,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,438,000 after purchasing an additional 878,900 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 132.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,976,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,719 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 54,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 8,350 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 298.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 802,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 600,545 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ambev by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,067,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 258,875 shares during the period. 8.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ambev Stock Performance

Shares of ABEV opened at $2.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $35.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Ambev has a 1 year low of $1.76 and a 1 year high of $2.58.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.01). Ambev had a net margin of 17.02% and a return on equity of 16.12%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.42 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ambev will post 0.18 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.0221 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Ambev’s payout ratio is 52.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABEV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Ambev from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on Ambev in a research report on Monday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America lowered Ambev from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.45.

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.