Matthews International Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 33,679 Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. $FMX

Matthews International Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 33,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,468,000. Fomento Economico Mexicano comprises approximately 0.8% of Matthews International Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 1.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,369,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $524,003,000 after purchasing an additional 100,898 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Fomento Economico Mexicano during the first quarter valued at approximately $330,437,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings 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 valued at $106,139,000 after purchasing an additional 570,640 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 12.7% during the first quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 919,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,754,000 after purchasing an additional 103,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Down 0.6%

FMX opened at $95.73 on Friday. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $90.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.04. The company has a market capitalization of $34.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.72.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.49). Fomento Economico Mexicano had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 2.60%.The business had revenue of $11.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.71 billion. On average, 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 17th were paid a dividend of $1.3625 per share. This is an increase from Fomento Economico Mexicano's previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $5.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 17th. Fomento Economico Mexicano's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FMX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (down previously from $132.00) on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $100.97.

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.

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