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

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.08.

FMC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on FMC from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday.

FMC Trading Down 5.0 %

NYSE FMC opened at $49.11 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.23, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.96. FMC has a 12 month low of $49.05 and a 12 month high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a net margin of 34.93% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that FMC will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

Insider Activity at FMC

In other news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of FMC stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total value of $270,245.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 28,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,709,485.83. The trade was a 13.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millburn Ridgefield Corp grew its position in shares of FMC by 186.2% during the 3rd quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of FMC by 90.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in FMC by 250.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in FMC by 56.9% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in FMC in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.