Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 507 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in FMC were worth $604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,547,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $791,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666,096 shares during the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 105.1% during the fourth quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,961,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $186,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518,053 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,227,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 35.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,061,828 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $322,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 5.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,290,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $973,987,000 after purchasing an additional 768,432 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FMC traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $58.54. 543,208 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,929,646. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s fifty day moving average is $57.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.70. FMC Co. has a one year low of $49.49 and a one year high of $96.81. The stock has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a PE ratio of 6.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.84.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. FMC had a net margin of 27.65% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The firm had revenue of $918.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. FMC’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on FMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of FMC from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of FMC from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays began coverage on shares of FMC in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of FMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.71.

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.