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

Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.23.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FMC. StockNews.com cut shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th.

FMC Price Performance

NYSE:FMC opened at $35.52 on Tuesday. FMC has a one year low of $33.80 and a one year high of $68.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.73.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. Analysts anticipate that FMC will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of FMC 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 completion of 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 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. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of FMC

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in FMC in the fourth quarter worth about $5,379,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in FMC by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 90,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,385,000 after purchasing an additional 14,030 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in FMC in the fourth quarter worth about $1,962,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in FMC by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,842 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in FMC by 154.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 49,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,396,000 after purchasing an additional 29,908 shares during the period. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.