Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. $FMX Shares Bought by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano, raising its holdings by 325.7% to a total of 383,644 shares worth approximately $37.4 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with Barclays and Morgan Stanley both reducing their price targets, while Citigroup upgraded Fomento Economico Mexicano to a "buy" rating.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.73 to $1.3625 per share, reflecting a robust 6.3% dividend yield.

Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Free Report) by 325.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 383,644 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 293,524 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Fomento Economico Mexicano worth $37,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMX. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,072 shares of the company's stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 561,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,142 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,369,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $524,003,000 after acquiring an additional 100,898 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 14,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 86.5% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,708 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FMX. Zacks Research cut Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (down from $132.00) on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $101.63.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Down 2.0%

Fomento Economico Mexicano stock traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $92.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 189,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 677,966. Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. has a fifty-two week low of $81.07 and a fifty-two week high of $108.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.13.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $216.71 billion. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 2.60%. On average, 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 17th were issued a $1.3625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 17th. This represents a $5.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. This is a boost from Fomento Economico Mexicano's previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Fomento Economico Mexicano's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.83%.

About Fomento Economico 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.