FMC (NYSE:FMC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

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

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on FMC. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of FMC from $79.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Barclays upgraded shares of FMC from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FMC presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.62.

FMC Price Performance

FMC stock opened at $35.66 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 3.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84. 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 1 year low of $34.00 and a 1 year high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts forecast that FMC will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

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 $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Insider Activity at FMC

In other news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total transaction of $270,245.43. Following the transaction, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,491 shares of company stock worth $433,898 over the last 90 days. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of FMC by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC boosted its stake in FMC by 3.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in FMC by 3.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in FMC by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FMC by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. 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.