Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:KOF) Short Interest Up 34.0% in February

Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:KOF) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 400,200 shares, a growth of 34.0% from the January 31st total of 298,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 174,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KOF. StockNews.com raised shares of Coca-Cola FEMSA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays increased 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 report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coca-Cola FEMSA presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.00.

Coca-Cola FEMSA Price Performance

Coca-Cola FEMSA stock opened at $86.73 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $79.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.86. Coca-Cola FEMSA has a 1 year low of $72.68 and a 1 year high of $102.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Coca-Cola FEMSA (NYSE:KOF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.22. Coca-Cola FEMSA had a net margin of 8.12% and a return on equity of 15.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.49 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola FEMSA will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coca-Cola FEMSA

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Corvex Management LP lifted 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 valued at $83,039,000 after purchasing an additional 619,931 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola FEMSA by 90.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 796,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,672,000 after purchasing an additional 378,325 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola FEMSA by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 813,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,297,000 after purchasing an additional 304,197 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola FEMSA by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,226,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,496,000 after purchasing an additional 157,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Coca-Cola FEMSA by 73.9% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 261,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,160,000 after purchasing an additional 110,926 shares during the last quarter.

About Coca-Cola FEMSA

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.