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

Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 822,403 shares, an increase of 31.1% from the February 26th total of 627,361 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 402,286 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Activity at Fomento Economico Mexicano

In related news, Director Garza Alfonso Garza sold 52,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.31, for a total transaction of $539,377.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,337,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,791,810.72. This trade represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 156,948 shares of company stock worth $1,630,690 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 11,692.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 716,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,171,000 after purchasing an additional 709,957 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 12,960.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 599,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,176,000 after buying an additional 595,388 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,343,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 67.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,046,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,256,000 after buying an additional 423,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Fomento Economico Mexicano in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,408,000. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on FMX. Barclays increased their target price on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $113.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fomento Economico Mexicano has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.67.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Performance

FMX stock traded up $0.78 on Friday, hitting $107.74. The company had a trading volume of 378,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,493. Fomento Economico Mexicano has a 12-month low of $83.08 and a 12-month high of $116.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.50. The stock has a market cap of $37.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.42.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $12.21 billion during the quarter. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a net margin of 2.29% and a return on equity of 6.11%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fomento Economico Mexicano will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 26th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were given a dividend of $2.0531 per share. This represents a $8.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.6%. This is a boost from Fomento Economico Mexicano’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Fomento Economico Mexicano’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.00%.

About Fomento Economico Mexicano

Fomento Económico Mexicano, SAB. de C.V. (FEMSA) is a Mexican multinational company active primarily in the retail and beverage sectors. Headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, FEMSA’s operations span convenience store retailing, beverage bottling and distribution, and related logistics and consumer services. The company’s business model combines high-frequency retail outlets with large-scale beverage production and a regional supply chain network.

FEMSA Comercio, the company’s retail arm, operates a large chain of convenience stores under the OXXO brand and has expanded its retail footprint with complementary formats and services.