10 Stocks Struggling to Shine Ahead of Christmas

2. Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV)

Ambev dropped its share prices by 7.63 percent to close at $2.30 apiece amid the lack of catalysts to boost buying appetite and what appeared to be an early window-dressing.

The practice is common among institutional investors, where they tweak portfolios before the reporting periods, typically quarterly and annually, by loading up on well-performing stocks and trimming those that underperform to present a stronger portfolio to clients.

Ambev SA (NYSE:ABEV) is a company that owns Brazil’s top brands, including Skol, Brahma, Antarctica, Bohemia, and Quilmes, among others.

In the past few weeks, the company received a downgraded rating of “market perform” from Bernstein, versus “outperform” previously, saying that while it is confident about Ambev SA’s (NYSE:ABEV) long-term fundamentals, it believed that the current expectations were “overblown.”

Bernstein recommended taking profits on the company’s shares and waiting for a more attractive entry point before loading positions in the company.