Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Short Interest Down 7.5% in March

Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) saw a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,060,000 shares, a decrease of 7.5% from the March 15th total of 4,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 12,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ambev by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 312,980,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955,528 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 3.1% in the third quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC now owns 107,182,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,531,000 after acquiring an additional 3,229,411 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 10.1% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 65,003,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,210,000 after acquiring an additional 5,943,974 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 8.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 58,604,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,361,000 after acquiring an additional 4,368,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ambev by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 51,517,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,494,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,184 shares in the last quarter. 8.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ambev Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABEV traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.27. The company had a trading volume of 14,382,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,935,701. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.64. The stock has a market cap of $35.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.08. Ambev has a 52-week low of $2.25 and a 52-week high of $3.23.

Ambev (NYSE:ABEV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter. Ambev had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ambev will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABEV. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Ambev in a report on Friday, January 26th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of Ambev from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $3.50 to $3.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ambev in a report on Friday, March 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ambev presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3.20.

About Ambev

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.