Coca Cola Femsa S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:KOF) Short Interest Up 25.4% in May

Coca Cola Femsa S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:KOF) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 183,900 shares, an increase of 25.4% from the May 15th total of 146,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 232,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Coca Cola Femsa Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:KOF opened at $94.23 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.13 and a 200 day moving average of $87.35. Coca Cola Femsa has a 52 week low of $72.68 and a 52 week high of $101.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.60.

Coca Cola Femsa (NYSE:KOF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.19. Coca Cola Femsa had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.44 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Coca Cola Femsa will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca Cola Femsa Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a $0.8839 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 22nd. This is a positive change from Coca Cola Femsa’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.74. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Coca Cola Femsa’s dividend payout ratio is 13.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Coca Cola Femsa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Coca Cola Femsa from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Coca Cola Femsa from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Coca Cola Femsa from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Coca Cola Femsa from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Coca Cola Femsa by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,245,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,690,000 after purchasing an additional 19,338 shares in the last quarter. Corvex Management LP raised its holdings in Coca Cola Femsa by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. Corvex Management LP now owns 1,066,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,039,000 after purchasing an additional 619,931 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Coca Cola Femsa in the 1st quarter worth $88,634,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Coca Cola Femsa by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 322,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,156,000 after purchasing an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Coca Cola Femsa by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 268,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,509,000 after purchasing an additional 26,634 shares in the last quarter.

Coca Cola Femsa Company Profile

Coca-Cola FEMSA, SAB. de C.V., a franchise bottler, produces, markets, sells, and distributes Coca-Cola trademark beverages in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. The company offers sparkling beverages, including colas and flavored sparkling beverages; waters; other non-carbonated beverages comprising juice drinks, coffee, teas, milk, value-added dairy products, sports and energy drinks, and plant-based drinks; and alcoholic beverages, such as hard seltzer under the Topo Chico brand name.