Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:FMX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $119.42 and last traded at $120.0550, with a volume of 9788 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FMX. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $113.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. 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 report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Stock Up 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.63. The company has a market cap of $41.38 billion, a PE ratio of 42.06, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Fomento Economico Mexicano (NYSE:FMX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter. Fomento Economico Mexicano had a net margin of 2.29% and a return on equity of 6.11%. The company had revenue of $11.61 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts predict that Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Fomento Economico Mexicano Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.6658 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Fomento Economico Mexicano’s payout ratio is presently 83.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fomento Economico Mexicano news, Director Garza Alfonso Garza sold 52,316 shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano stock in a transaction on 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 owned 1,233,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,650,195.60. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 261,575 shares of company stock valued at $2,795,188 over the last three months. 5.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fomento Economico Mexicano

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FMX. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 11,692.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 716,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,171,000 after purchasing an additional 709,957 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 12,960.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 599,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,176,000 after purchasing an additional 595,388 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano during the third quarter worth about $50,343,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano by 67.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,046,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,256,000 after purchasing an additional 423,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Fomento Economico Mexicano during the fourth quarter worth about $41,408,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

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.