Insider Selling: Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) General Counsel Sells $165,490.00 in Stock

Key Points

• General Counsel Ortiz Alejandro Gil sold 13,000 shares for $165,490, reducing his direct stake by 23.01% to 43,506 shares.
• Fomento Economico Mexicano beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.10 versus $1.04 expected and revenue of $13.03 billion versus $12.84 billion forecast.
• The company’s quarterly dividend declined from $1.8270 to $1.7804 per share; analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with a $142.17 average price target.

Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) General Counsel Ortiz Alejandro Gil sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.73, for a total value of $165,490.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 43,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $553,831.38. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Performance

FMX traded down $0.63 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $130.64. The stock had a trading volume of 220,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 493,076. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.15. Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. has a twelve month low of $92.55 and a twelve month high of $141.47. The company's 50-day moving average price is $122.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.08.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a net margin of 3.98% and a return on equity of 7.71%. The company had revenue of $13.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.84 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 14th were paid a dividend of $1.7804 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 14th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. This is a decrease from Fomento Economico Mexicano's previous quarterly dividend of $1.8270. Fomento Economico Mexicano's dividend payout ratio is 40.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on FMX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $130.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Fomento Economico Mexicano from $138.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised Fomento Economico Mexicano from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.17.

Institutional Trading of Fomento Economico Mexicano

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 75.2% in the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 844,817 shares of the company's stock worth $100,162,000 after purchasing an additional 362,738 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,379,331 shares of the company's stock worth $282,093,000 after purchasing an additional 292,659 shares in the last quarter. Cook & Bynum Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,857,616. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,218,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $690,649,000 after purchasing an additional 193,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Fomento Economico Mexicano in the 2nd quarter worth about $18,937,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

About Fomento Economico Mexicano

Fomento Económico Mexicano, SAB. de C.V. (FEMSA) is a Mexican company with businesses in beverage production and retail. Its Coca-Cola FEMSA subsidiary produces, markets and distributes Coca-Cola products under franchise agreements, serving customers in Mexico and other Latin American markets.

FEMSA also operates OXXO convenience stores and other retail businesses across Latin America. Its activities include pharmacy and fuel retailing, as well as digital and financial services through platforms such as Spin by OXXO.

The company traces its origins to 1890, when Cervecería Cuauhtémoc was founded in Monterrey, Mexico.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.