Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) Short Interest Update

Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 787,800 shares, a decline of 23.5% from the February 13th total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 508,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano in the 3rd quarter worth $780,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano in the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano in the 3rd quarter worth $7,672,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 267.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 313,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,956,000 after purchasing an additional 228,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano from $109.00 to $97.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.95.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Price Performance

Shares of FMX traded down $1.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $99.23. 510,573 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 619,861. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Fomento Económico Mexicano has a 52-week low of $81.08 and a 52-week high of $131.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.50. The company has a market cap of $35.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.87.

Fomento Económico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($1.05). Fomento Económico Mexicano had a net margin of 3.22% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The firm had revenue of $9.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.67 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Fomento Económico Mexicano will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $0.9201 per share. This is a boost from Fomento Económico Mexicano’s previous dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Fomento Económico Mexicano’s payout ratio is 11.03%.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Company Profile

Fomento Económico Mexicano, SAB. de C.V., through its subsidiaries, operates as a bottler of Coca-Cola trademark beverages. The company produces, markets, and distributes Coca-Cola trademark beverages in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.