Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• FMX hit a new 52-week high after Barclays raised its price target from $125 to $130, with shares trading as high as $132.85 intraday. Despite the higher target, Barclays kept an equal weight rating on the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with recent target hikes from UBS and JPMorgan and multiple firms issuing buy-oriented ratings. MarketBeat says the stock currently has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $119.50.
• FEMSA also announced a higher quarterly dividend of $1.827 per share, boosting the annualized yield to about 5.5%. The payout is a sharp increase from the prior $0.67 quarterly dividend and is supported by a dividend payout ratio of 53.47%.

Shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $130.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Fomento Economico Mexicano traded as high as $132.85 and last traded at $133.2710, with a volume of 58127 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $129.01.

FMX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $119.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FMX. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,218,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $690,649,000 after acquiring an additional 193,432 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC raised its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 3,850,882 shares of the company's stock worth $389,209,000 after purchasing an additional 88,721 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,244,820 shares of the company's stock worth $125,814,000 after purchasing an additional 197,914 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 758,186 shares of the company's stock worth $74,780,000 after purchasing an additional 132,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 11,692.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 716,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,171,000 after purchasing an additional 709,957 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $46.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.41. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $124.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Fomento Economico Mexicano Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.827 dividend. This represents a $7.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This is a positive change from Fomento Economico Mexicano's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Fomento Economico Mexicano's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.47%.

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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