Brazilian brewer Ambev rises as BofA says 'buy'

Ambev SA

10/07/2023 17:33

** Shares in Brazilian brewer Ambev  ABEV3.SA  rise as analysts
at Bank of America upgrade their recommendation on the company
to "Buy" from "Neutral"
    ** BofA mentions strong margin recovery and a discounted
valuation among its reasons to upgrade Ambev, which is
controlled by Anheuser-Busch InBev  ABI.BR 
    ** "We are constructive on margin performance in the next 18
months and estimate that 2024 EBITDA margin will be the highest
since 2019," the analysts say
    ** They increase their price target to 17.50 reais per share
from 16.40 reais
    ** Shares of Ambev are up 2% in midday trading to 15.15
reais 
    ** The brewer is the top gainer on Brazil's Bovespa stock
index  .BVSP , which is down 0.5%
    ** Year-to-date, Ambev gains 4.4%

 (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Steven Grattan)
 ((Gabriel.Araujo2@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 5047-3352;))