AREX Capital Management LP Makes New $278,000 Investment in Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX)

AREX Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $278,000. Fomento Económico Mexicano comprises 0.4% of AREX Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano by 78.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 72,159 shares of the company's stock worth $7,123,000 after buying an additional 31,656 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano by 100.6% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,204,000 after acquiring an additional 6,113 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 758 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano by 141.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 135,003 shares of the company's stock worth $11,541,000 after purchasing an additional 79,181 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in Fomento Económico Mexicano in the fourth quarter valued at about $225,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Fomento Económico Mexicano from $109.00 to $97.80 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Fomento Económico Mexicano from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Fomento Económico Mexicano from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Fomento Económico Mexicano from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Fomento Económico Mexicano from $94.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.95.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Price Performance

Shares of FMX traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $102.65. The company had a trading volume of 147,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 622,489. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $99.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.76. The company has a market capitalization of $36.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.69. Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. has a 1-year low of $81.08 and a 1-year high of $123.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Fomento Económico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.07). Fomento Económico Mexicano had a net margin of 3.22% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The firm had revenue of $9.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.75 billion. Analysts expect that Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Fomento Económico Mexicano Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $1.628 dividend. This is a boost from Fomento Económico Mexicano's previous dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.57%. Fomento Económico Mexicano's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.41%.

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.