Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $117.1667.

FMX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Fomento Economico Mexicano from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Fomento Economico Mexicano from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $113.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fomento Economico Mexicano news, Director Garza Alfonso Garza sold 52,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.07, for a total value of $579,138.12. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,233,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,650,195.60. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 261,575 shares of company stock valued at $2,795,188. Company insiders own 5.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMX. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 2,006.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in the 2nd quarter worth $429,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 61.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in the 2nd quarter worth $504,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:FMX opened at $122.77 on Friday. Fomento Economico Mexicano has a 1 year low of $83.08 and a 1 year high of $125.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $117.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.22.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 3.40%.The firm had revenue of $11.61 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fomento Economico Mexicano will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.6658 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Fomento Economico Mexicano’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.47%.

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.