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 significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,860,000 shares, a decline of 24.3% from the September 15th total of 3,780,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 687,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FMX shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano from $145.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Fomento Económico Mexicano from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.40.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of FMX traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $98.75. 608,988 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 685,292. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $103.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.39. Fomento Económico Mexicano has a 12 month low of $97.58 and a 12 month high of $143.43. The stock has a market cap of $35.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.94.

Fomento Económico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $11.54 billion during the quarter. Fomento Económico Mexicano had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 8.65%. Research analysts forecast that Fomento Económico Mexicano will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 16th will be given a dividend of $0.864 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 16th. Fomento Económico Mexicano’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano in the 4th quarter valued at $632,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano in the first quarter valued at about $401,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Perpetual Ltd raised its position in shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 572,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,616,000 after purchasing an additional 66,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano during the first quarter worth $187,000.

About Fomento Económico Mexicano

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.