FMC (NYSE:FMC) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on FMC. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Vertical Research raised shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FMC has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.23.

FMC Price Performance

NYSE FMC opened at $38.30 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.76. FMC has a 52-week low of $33.80 and a 52-week high of $68.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 1.90 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. Analysts anticipate that FMC will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s payout ratio is 85.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FMC news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commerce Bank increased its position in FMC by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. WP Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FMC by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 6,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FMC by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of FMC by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, 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 period. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

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.