Discerene Group LP Reduces Holdings in Compania Cervecerias Unidas, S.A. $CCU

Discerene Group LP lowered its position in Compania Cervecerias Unidas, S.A. (NYSE:CCU) by 2.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,457,278 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,879 shares during the quarter. Compania Cervecerias Unidas accounts for approximately 2.5% of Discerene Group LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Discerene Group LP’s holdings in Compania Cervecerias Unidas were worth $29,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 130.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 487,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,285,000 after purchasing an additional 275,435 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 386.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 166,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after purchasing an additional 132,083 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 83.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 255,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 116,418 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 172.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 173,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after buying an additional 109,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new position in Compania Cervecerias Unidas during the first quarter worth approximately $579,000. Institutional investors own 24.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Compania Cervecerias Unidas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Compania Cervecerias Unidas from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Compania Cervecerias Unidas has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.00.

Compania Cervecerias Unidas Stock Performance

Shares of CCU stock opened at $11.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.98. Compania Cervecerias Unidas, S.A. has a 52 week low of $11.35 and a 52 week high of $15.75.

Compania Cervecerias Unidas (NYSE:CCU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.78 million. Compania Cervecerias Unidas had a net margin of 4.03% and a return on equity of 7.20%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Compania Cervecerias Unidas, S.A. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Compania Cervecerias Unidas Profile

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas SA (NYSE: CCU) is a Chile-based beverages company with operations across Latin America. The company engages in the production, marketing and distribution of beer, soft drinks, wines, mineral water and other non-alcoholic beverages. Through a combination of owned brands and licensing agreements, CCU serves both domestic and export markets with a diversified portfolio designed to meet evolving consumer tastes.

In its beer segment, CCU produces flagship brands such as Cristal, Escudo and Royal Guard, while also brewing international labels under license, including Heineken in select markets.