Short Interest in Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) Drops By 24.3%

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 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 687,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Fomento Económico Mexicano

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 78.2% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 221 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Oldfield Partners LLP boosted its position in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oldfield Partners LLP now owns 13,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 43,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,677,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance increased its position in Fomento Económico Mexicano by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 3,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FMX. StockNews.com raised Fomento Económico Mexicano from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $104.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.40.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Price Performance

NYSE FMX traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $98.72. 608,704 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 685,290. Fomento Económico Mexicano has a 52 week low of $97.58 and a 52 week high of $143.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $103.76 and a 200-day moving average of $111.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $35.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.94.

Fomento Económico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $11.54 billion for the quarter. Fomento Económico Mexicano had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 3.75%. Analysts expect that Fomento Económico Mexicano will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Cuts Dividend

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

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.