Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) Short Interest Up 9.9% in October

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 740,800 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the September 30th total of 673,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 195,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCU has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $12.90 to $10.50 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compañía Cervecerías Unidas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 124.3% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 760,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,118,000 after purchasing an additional 421,374 shares during the period. Genesis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,590,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,495,000 after acquiring an additional 402,593 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,121,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 15,741,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,143,000 after purchasing an additional 184,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 82.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 166,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 75,147 shares in the last quarter. 24.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCU opened at $10.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $13.74.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas (NYSE:CCU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.75%. The business had revenue of $561.95 million during the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Compañía Cervecerías Unidas will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

About Compañía Cervecerías Unidas

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.