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 decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 787,800 shares, a decrease of 23.5% from the February 13th total of 1,030,000 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 508,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FMX traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $99.61. The stock had a trading volume of 85,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,578. The company has a market capitalization of $35.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.55. Fomento Económico Mexicano has a 1 year low of $81.07 and a 1 year high of $131.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Fomento Económico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $9.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.67 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fomento Económico Mexicano will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $0.9201 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from Fomento Económico Mexicano’s previous dividend of $0.74. Fomento Económico Mexicano’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fomento Económico Mexicano

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMX. FMR LLC increased its stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 540.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,147,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,084,000 after acquiring an additional 2,655,962 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 12,655,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,081,939,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,913 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 4,228,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,716,000 after acquiring an additional 717,666 shares during the last quarter. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano during the fourth quarter worth $47,110,000. Finally, Asset Value Investors Ltd acquired a new stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano during the fourth quarter worth $42,793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on FMX shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Fomento Económico Mexicano from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on Fomento Económico Mexicano from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Fomento Económico Mexicano from $109.00 to $97.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.95.

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.