Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Fomento Economico Mexicano hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $119.42 and last at about $120.06, with shares up roughly 1.3% and a market capitalization near $41.4 billion.
• Analysts' consensus rating is Hold with an average target of $113.17, though opinions are mixed (three Buy vs five Hold) and several firms have recently raised targets as high as $128.
• The company disclosed a quarterly dividend of $0.6658 ($2.66 annualized, ~2.2% yield) with a payout ratio of 83.9%; latest quarter showed $2.43 EPS on $11.61 billion revenue and the stock trades at a P/E of 42.06.

Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $119.42 and last traded at $120.0550, with a volume of 9788 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $118.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $113.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $113.17.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Up 1.3%

The company's 50 day moving average price is $111.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) last posted 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 2.29% and a return on equity of 6.11%. The business had revenue of $11.61 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.6658 per share. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. Fomento Economico Mexicano's payout ratio is presently 83.86%.

Insider Activity at Fomento Economico Mexicano

In other news, Director Garza Alfonso Garza sold 52,311 shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.19, for a total transaction of $585,360.09. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,128,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,627,389.07. The trade was a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 261,575 shares of company stock worth $2,795,188 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FMX. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano during the first quarter worth $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 2,006.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 337 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 42.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 439 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano during the third quarter worth $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Company 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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