Compañía Cervecerías Unidas (NYSE:CCU) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 82,738 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 49% from the previous session’s volume of 163,123 shares.The stock last traded at $11.67 and had previously closed at $11.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from $10.50 to $9.40 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Compañía Cervecerías Unidas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.03.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Trading Up 0.7 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,892,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,006,000 after purchasing an additional 39,971 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 31,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 13,668 shares during the period. Genesis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,590,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,495,000 after purchasing an additional 402,593 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 184,970 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 82.0% during 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 during the period. 24.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.