Coca Cola Femsa S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:KOF) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Coca Cola Femsa S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:KOF - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 183,900 shares, a growth of 25.4% from the May 15th total of 146,600 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 232,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Coca Cola Femsa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KOF traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $94.23. 229,189 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 197,457. The company's 50-day moving average is $95.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $158.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.60. Coca Cola Femsa has a 1 year low of $72.68 and a 1 year high of $101.74.

Coca Cola Femsa (NYSE:KOF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.44 billion. Coca Cola Femsa had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 16.29%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Coca Cola Femsa will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca Cola Femsa Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were paid a $0.8839 dividend. This represents a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Coca Cola Femsa's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. Coca Cola Femsa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on KOF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Coca Cola Femsa from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Coca Cola Femsa from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Coca Cola Femsa from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Coca Cola Femsa from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Coca Cola Femsa from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Americana Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca Cola Femsa by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 5,131 shares of the company's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca Cola Femsa by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 19,587 shares of the company's stock worth $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 2,902 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coca Cola Femsa by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 28,718 shares of the company's stock worth $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Coca Cola Femsa during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca Cola Femsa during the fourth quarter worth $70,000.

About Coca Cola Femsa

Coca-Cola FEMSA, SAB. de C.V., a franchise bottler, produces, markets, sells, and distributes Coca-Cola trademark beverages in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. The company offers sparkling beverages, including colas and flavored sparkling beverages; waters; other non-carbonated beverages comprising juice drinks, coffee, teas, milk, value-added dairy products, sports and energy drinks, and plant-based drinks; and alcoholic beverages, such as hard seltzer under the Topo Chico brand name.

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