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

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,060,000 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the November 15th total of 960,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 215,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Compañía Cervecerías Unidas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.03.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compañía Cervecerías Unidas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas during the 2nd quarter valued at about $146,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 55.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares during the period. Malaga Cove Capital LLC grew its holdings in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 39.8% in the second quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC now owns 57,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 16,396 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 37.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 79,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 21,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 98.1% during the 2nd quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd now owns 120,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 59,863 shares during the period. 24.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Stock Performance

Shares of CCU opened at $11.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.90. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas has a one year low of $10.00 and a one year 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 issued a $0.1498 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Compañía Cervecerías Unidas’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.67%.

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.