Ballentine Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 2,546 Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX)

Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FMX. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,117 shares of the company's stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,015 shares of the company's stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 56.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 831 shares of the company's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 1.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 26,474 shares of the company's stock worth $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 1.9% in the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 18,761 shares of the company's stock worth $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FMX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.45.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:FMX traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $99.40. The company had a trading volume of 405,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,189. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $103.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.65. Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. has a one year low of $81.08 and a one year high of $119.18.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.07). Fomento Economico Mexicano had a net margin of 3.98% and a return on equity of 7.86%. The business had revenue of $9.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.75 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.3625 per share. This is an increase from Fomento Economico Mexicano's previous -- dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 17th. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. Fomento Economico Mexicano's payout ratio is 49.22%.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Company Profile

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.