Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $117.1667.

FMX has been the subject of several research analyst 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. 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 raised shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $113.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Performance

FMX opened at $123.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $118.66 and a 200 day moving average of $109.94. Fomento Economico Mexicano has a fifty-two week low of $83.08 and a fifty-two week high of $125.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $2.43 earnings per share 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 will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd were given a dividend of $0.6658 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Fomento Economico Mexicano’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fomento Economico Mexicano news, Director Garza Alfonso Garza sold 52,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.07, for a total transaction of $579,138.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,233,080 shares in the company, valued at $13,650,195.60. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 261,575 shares of company stock worth $2,795,188 in the last three months. 5.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fomento Economico Mexicano

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Fomento Economico Mexicano during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 2,006.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 42.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 220.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 725 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. 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 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.