Short Interest in Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU) Rises By 14.5%

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (NYSE:CCU - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 848,300 shares, a growth of 14.5% from the October 15th total of 740,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 199,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Institutional Trading of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCU. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $179,143,000 after acquiring an additional 184,970 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,121,000. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 98.1% during the second quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd now owns 120,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 59,863 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 37.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 79,367 shares of the company's stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 21,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 33,595 shares of the company's stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 3,750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CCU shares. StockNews.com upgraded Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Compañía Cervecerías Unidas from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $21.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.08.

Compañía Cervecerías Unidas Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of CCU stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $11.01. 121,705 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 153,024. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas has a 1 year low of $10.00 and a 1 year high of $13.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.88. The company's 50 day moving average is $11.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.55. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 1st will be issued a $0.1498 dividend. This is an increase from Compañía Cervecerías Unidas's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a yield of 2.4%. Compañía Cervecerías Unidas's dividend payout ratio is 40.00%.

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.