Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. $FMX Position Increased by Barings LLC

Key Points

• Barings LLC increased its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 14.4% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 90,614 shares worth about $10.1 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on FMX, with UBS and JPMorgan both raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus Moderate Buy rating.
• FEMSA recently boosted its quarterly dividend to $1.827 per share from $0.67, lifting the annualized payout to $7.31 and the dividend yield to 5.6%.

Barings LLC increased its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Free Report) by 14.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,614 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,397 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC's holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano were worth $10,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FMX. Fundamenta Capital S.A. bought a new position in Fomento Economico Mexicano during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,527,000. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd grew its position in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd now owns 448,439 shares of the company's stock worth $46,279,000 after acquiring an additional 58,920 shares in the last quarter. INCA Investments LLC grew its position in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. INCA Investments LLC now owns 395,261 shares of the company's stock worth $39,949,000 after acquiring an additional 25,536 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 100.2% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 85,067 shares of the company's stock worth $8,598,000 after purchasing an additional 42,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 511,704 shares of the company's stock worth $50,469,000 after purchasing an additional 118,375 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on FMX shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $119.50.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Performance

NYSE FMX opened at $129.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.41. The company's fifty day moving average is $125.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.03. Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. has a 52-week low of $83.08 and a 52-week high of $134.52.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 7.33%. The business had revenue of $11.61 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. will post 6.19 EPS for the current year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.827 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This is a positive change from Fomento Economico Mexicano's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $7.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Fomento Economico Mexicano's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.62%.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Profile

Fomento Económico Mexicano, SAB. de C.V. (FEMSA) is a Mexican multinational company active primarily in the retail and beverage sectors. Headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, FEMSA's operations span convenience store retailing, beverage bottling and distribution, and related logistics and consumer services. The company's business model combines high-frequency retail outlets with large-scale beverage production and a regional supply chain network.

FEMSA Comercio, the company's retail arm, operates a large chain of convenience stores under the OXXO brand and has expanded its retail footprint with complementary formats and services.

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