Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 56,895 Shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 1.3%, holding 4,268,594 shares worth approximately $416.53 million as of the last quarter.
• Fomento Economico Mexicano reported a miss in earnings with $0.45 EPS, falling short of the $0.52 consensus estimate, and had revenue of $9.65 billion in the last quarter.
• The company announced a $1.3625 dividend to be paid on July 28th, indicating an increase from its previous dividend, with a yield of 2% and a payout ratio of 49.22%.

Baillie Gifford & Co. decreased its position in Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,268,594 shares of the company's stock after selling 56,895 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 1.19% of Fomento Economico Mexicano worth $416,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FMX. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 540.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,147,544 shares of the company's stock valued at $269,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,655,962 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 4,228,299 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,716,000 after purchasing an additional 717,666 shares during the last quarter. Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Fomento Economico Mexicano in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,110,000. Asset Value Investors Ltd purchased a new position in Fomento Economico Mexicano in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,793,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,158,614 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,540,000 after purchasing an additional 437,699 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Performance

FMX stock traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.44. 495,774 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 587,458. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $103.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.64. Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. has a 52 week low of $81.07 and a 52 week high of $114.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.65.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $9.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.75 billion. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a net margin of 3.98% and a return on equity of 7.86%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 -- dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 28th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2%. This is a boost from Fomento Economico Mexicano's previous -- dividend of $0.73. Fomento Economico Mexicano's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.22%.

Fomento Economico Mexicano 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.