Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) Short Interest Update

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) was the recipient of a large 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 daily trading volume, of 169,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on CCU shares. 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 cut their target price on Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from $10.50 to $9.40 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Compañía Cervecerías Unidas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.03.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compañía Cervecerías Unidas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas during the fourth quarter worth $116,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 75.0% in 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 21,630 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 82.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 166,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after buying an additional 75,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Genesis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 33.9% in the third quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,590,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,495,000 after buying an additional 402,593 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 24.07% of the company’s stock.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCU opened at $11.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas has a twelve month low of $10.00 and a twelve month high of $13.74.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Increases Dividend

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