FMC (NYSE:FMC) Downgraded to Sector Perform Rating by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $47.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $78.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup raised their target price on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised shares of FMC from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of FMC from $79.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FMC has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.62.

FMC Trading Down 33.4 %

Shares of FMC stock opened at $36.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. FMC has a twelve month low of $34.00 and a twelve month high of $68.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.69. The stock has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.10, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 34.93% and a return on equity of 7.68%. As a group, equities analysts predict that FMC will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total transaction of $270,245.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,709,485.83. This represents a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total value of $163,429.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,491 shares of company stock worth $433,898. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of FMC by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 36,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,129,000 after buying an additional 2,208 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FMC during the second quarter worth about $1,307,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of FMC by 13.5% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of FMC by 37.1% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 35,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,314,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of FMC by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About FMC

FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, provides crop protection, plant health, and professional pest and turf management products. It develops, markets, and sells crop protection chemicals that includes insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides; and biologicals, crop nutrition, and seed treatment products, which are used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality by controlling a range of insects, weeds, and diseases, as well as in non-agricultural markets for pest control.