Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) Short Interest Up 31.1% in March

Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of 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. Based on an average trading volume of 402,286 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Garza Alfonso Garza sold 52,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.31, for a total transaction of $539,377.96. Following the sale, the director owned 1,337,712 shares in the company, valued at $13,791,810.72. This represents a 3.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 156,948 shares of company stock valued at $1,630,690. 5.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fomento Economico Mexicano

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 10,750.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 92.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 762 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano during the fourth quarter worth $122,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Up 2.5%

Fomento Economico Mexicano stock traded up $2.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $110.79. The stock had a trading volume of 478,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 418,434. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.28 billion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.42. Fomento Economico Mexicano has a fifty-two week low of $83.08 and a fifty-two week high of $116.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a return on equity of 6.11% and a net margin of 2.29%.The company had revenue of $12.21 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fomento Economico Mexicano will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $2.0531 per share. This is an increase from Fomento Economico Mexicano’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. This represents a $8.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Fomento Economico Mexicano’s dividend payout ratio is 79.65%.

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.