Compania Cervecerias Unidas (NYSE:CCU) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas (NYSE:CCU) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

CCU has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.00.

Compania Cervecerias Unidas Price Performance

CCU opened at $12.13 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.52. Compania Cervecerias Unidas has a 52-week low of $10.71 and a 52-week high of $15.36.

Compania Cervecerias Unidas (NYSE:CCU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12). Compania Cervecerias Unidas had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 6.77%. The firm had revenue of $659.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.90 million. As a group, analysts predict that Compania Cervecerias Unidas will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compania Cervecerias Unidas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Compania Cervecerias Unidas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,748,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 27.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,461,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,830,000 after acquiring an additional 526,665 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 386.6% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 166,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,148,000 after acquiring an additional 132,083 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 83.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 255,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,300,000 after acquiring an additional 116,418 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Compania Cervecerias Unidas by 172.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 173,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 109,867 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.07% of the company’s stock.

About Compania Cervecerias Unidas

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas SA (NYSE: CCU) is a Chile-based beverages company with operations across Latin America. The company engages in the production, marketing and distribution of beer, soft drinks, wines, mineral water and other non-alcoholic beverages. Through a combination of owned brands and licensing agreements, CCU serves both domestic and export markets with a diversified portfolio designed to meet evolving consumer tastes.

In its beer segment, CCU produces flagship brands such as Cristal, Escudo and Royal Guard, while also brewing international labels under license, including Heineken in select markets.