FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.15.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FMC. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th.

FMC Stock Performance

NYSE:FMC opened at $42.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24. FMC has a 1-year low of $33.80 and a 1-year high of $68.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $43.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.87.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued 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 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FMC will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.49%. FMC’s payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FMC news, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson purchased 6,000 shares of FMC stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,980. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of FMC by 27.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,271,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,151,000 after buying an additional 1,343,615 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of FMC in the 4th quarter worth about $49,888,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of FMC by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,559,107 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $173,008,000 after purchasing an additional 977,110 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of FMC by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,286,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,131,000 after purchasing an additional 707,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in FMC by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,088,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,509,000 after purchasing an additional 685,995 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FMC Company Profile

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.