Harding Loevner, an investment management firm, published its “Emerging Markets Equity Fund” fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A net return of -2.38% was recorded by the fund for the fourth quarter of 2021, trailing its Benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which returned -1.24% for the same period. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.
Harding Loevner Emerging Markets Equity Fund mentioned Ambev S.A. (NYSE: ABEV) and discussed its stance on the firm. Ambev S.A. is a State of São Paulo, Brazil-based brewing company with a $46.1 billion market capitalization. ABEV delivered a 4.64% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 17.20%. The stock closed at $2.93 per share on February 28, 2022.
Here is what Harding Loevner Emerging Markets Equity Fund has to say about Ambev S.A. in its Q4 2021 investor letter:
“Consumer Staples companies are typically considered to have strong pricing power, supported by the consumer loyalty to their brands that they have earned through advertising. But in some product categories competition and fear of losing market share may preclude raising prices significantly. Such is the case for Brazilian brewer Ambev, which in recent years has faced an intensifying competitive rivalry with Heineken in Brazil’s premium beer market. That has forced Ambev to find other ways to sustain its profits in the face of soaring costs for materials. One of its strategies has been to diversify its portfolio of brands across “core,” “core plus,” and “premium” segments, each at a different price point, which has helped to both attract new beer drinkers as well as retain established customers when they look to save money in a slowing economy. Ambev has also invested in technology that allows it to respond more rapidly to shifts in consumer demand—delivering the right beer in the right packaging and quantity, almost in advance of the retailer or distributor themselves knowing what will sell.”
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Our calculations show that Ambev S.A. (NYSE: ABEV) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. ABEV was in 16 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 15 funds in the previous quarter. Ambev S.A. (NYSE: ABEV) delivered a 1.03% return in the past 3 months.
In February 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on ABEV in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
