Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a growth of 21.2% from the December 15th total of 1,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 169,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CCU. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from $10.50 to $9.40 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank raised shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Compañía Cervecerías Unidas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.03.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCU. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 15,741,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,143,000 after buying an additional 184,970 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 2.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,892,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,006,000 after acquiring an additional 39,971 shares in the last quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 33.9% during the third quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,590,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,495,000 after purchasing an additional 402,593 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 82.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 166,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 75,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 37.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 79,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 21,630 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.07% of the company’s stock.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.63. The stock had a trading volume of 277,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,679. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $13.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.27.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 1st were given a $0.1498 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This is a positive change from Compañía Cervecerías Unidas’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.10. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas’s payout ratio is currently 38.67%.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Company Profile

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas SA operates as a beverage company in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The company operates through three segments: Chile, International Business, and Wine. It produces and sells alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer under proprietary and licensed brands, as well as distributes Pernod Ricard products in non-supermarket retail stores.