Delta Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Delta Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FMC. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FMC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp boosted its stake in FMC by 186.2% during the third quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in FMC by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of FMC by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FMC during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. 91.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FMC. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target 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, February 5th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Vertical Research upgraded FMC to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.23.

FMC Price Performance

FMC opened at $38.30 on Monday. The firm 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $47.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.73. FMC Co. has a 12-month low of $33.80 and a 12-month high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.85% 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.