Wall Street Zen Downgrades Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) from strong-buy to buy in a Monday research note.
• Other analysts remain mixed on the stock: ratings recently included a mix of buy, hold, and neutral calls, with a consensus from MarketBeat of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.33.
• FMX was trading around $121.30, near its 12-month high of $124.24, after reporting quarterly EPS of $2.43 on revenue of $11.61 billion.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in a research report 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 stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $98.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $113.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.33.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:FMX opened at $121.30 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $112.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.36. Fomento Economico Mexicano has a 12 month low of $83.08 and a 12 month high of $124.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $41.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.42.

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. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 7.33%. The firm had revenue of $11.61 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Fomento Economico Mexicano will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Garza Alfonso Garza sold 52,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.07, for a total value of $579,138.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,233,080 shares in the company, valued at $13,650,195.60. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 261,575 shares of company stock valued at $2,795,188. 5.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Madison Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 16,681 shares of the company's stock worth $1,853,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 63.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 35,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,944,000 after purchasing an additional 9,923 shares in the last quarter. Barings LLC increased its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Barings LLC now owns 90,614 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,064,000 after purchasing an additional 11,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Fomento Economico Mexicano by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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