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

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) saw a significant growth in short interest in 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 trading volume, of 195,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compañía Cervecerías Unidas

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 402,593 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas in the second quarter worth $2,121,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 1.2% in the second 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 increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 75,147 shares during the last quarter. 24.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Price Performance

NYSE CCU traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $10.90. The company had a trading volume of 81,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,591. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $13.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.87.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas (NYSE:CCU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $561.95 million for the quarter. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.75%. Equities research analysts expect that Compañía Cervecerías Unidas will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.