Amundi Boosts Holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. $FMX

Key Points

• Amundi increased its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. by 1.1%, acquiring an additional 6,142 shares and now holding a total of 561,473 shares valued at approximately $56.97 million.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.73 to $1.3625 per share, reflecting a significant increase in its annualized dividend yield to 6.4%.
• Wall Street analysts have set a consensus price target of $105.16 for the stock, with mixed ratings including two "Buy" and four "Hold" recommendations.

Amundi grew its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 561,473 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,142 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.16% of Fomento Economico Mexicano worth $56,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 1.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,369,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $524,003,000 after buying an additional 100,898 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Fomento Economico Mexicano during the first quarter worth $330,437,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,158,614 shares of the company's stock worth $184,540,000 after buying an additional 437,699 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 105.4% during the first quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,112,036 shares of the company's stock worth $106,139,000 after buying an additional 570,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 5.7% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 977,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,369,000 after purchasing an additional 52,673 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of FMX stock traded up $1.90 on Friday, hitting $92.28. 1,176,838 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 994,600. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.34. Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. has a one year low of $81.07 and a one year high of $108.74. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $91.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.70.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.71 billion. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 5.32%. Equities analysts forecast that Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 17th were given a dividend of $1.3625 per share. This represents a $5.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 17th. This is an increase from Fomento Economico Mexicano's previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Fomento Economico Mexicano's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FMX has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $97.00 price objective (down previously from $132.00) on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $93.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fomento Economico Mexicano has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.80.

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.