FMC (NYSE:FMC) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) hit a new 52-week low on Friday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $7.50. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. FMC traded as low as $4.84 and last traded at $5.6350, with a volume of 32,568,651 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.09.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FMC. Seaport Research Partners set a $21.00 target price on shares of FMC in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $14.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Friday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of FMC from $9.00 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of FMC in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of FMC from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $11.68.

FMC News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting FMC this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FMC is taking commercial actions in Brazil, Argentina, the United States and Canada—including price reductions and changes to its U.S. selling model—to clear high-priced channel inventory and potentially restore future replenishment demand. FMC Corporation Provides Update to Third-Quarter Expectations
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high call-option activity suggests some traders are positioning for a rebound or increased volatility, but it does not establish a fundamental improvement in FMC’s outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several law firms announced investigations into whether FMC’s disclosures around its roughly $403 million September share sale and planned $1.2 billion senior secured notes offering complied with securities laws. These are allegations and investigations, not findings of wrongdoing, but they add legal and investor-confidence risk. FMC Corporation Investigation Notice
• Negative Sentiment: FMC slashed third-quarter revenue guidance to $65 million-$125 million from $840 million-$900 million, while adjusted EBITDA is now expected to be negative $565 million to negative $510 million. The company cited weak agricultural demand and elevated inventories of higher-priced products held by channel customers. FMC Cuts Third-Quarter Revenue Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: The revised outlook includes approximately $625 million-$675 million in charges from commercial actions, implying a substantial near-term financial hit and underscoring the severity of FMC’s inventory and pricing problems.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts remain concerned about FMC’s heavy debt load, potential covenant discussions, generic pesticide competition and weak farm demand. RBC cut its price target to $9, while Barclays downgraded the stock to “strong sell”; analysts have also warned that FMC’s dividend could be at risk. FMC Dividend Risk and RBC Price Target

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FMC. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC increased its position in shares of FMC by 265.4% during the third quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 86,985 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 63,182 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 46,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 15,643 shares during the last quarter. NFSG Corp boosted its stake in FMC by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 7,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Chiron Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in FMC during the 3rd quarter valued at about $171,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of FMC by 47.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FMC Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $708.18 million, a PE ratio of -0.26 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.24 and a 200-day moving average of $12.12.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.04. FMC had a positive return on equity of 11.35% and a negative net margin of 84.83%. The business had revenue of $841.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $895.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. FMC’s revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that FMC Corporation will post 1.20 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1.45%.

FMC Company Profile

FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) is an agricultural sciences company that develops, manufactures and markets crop protection products for farmers and other agricultural professionals. Its portfolio includes herbicides, insecticides and fungicides used to help protect crops from weeds, insects and diseases.

The company also develops biological and other crop health solutions, supported by research in areas such as plant science, chemistry and biotechnology. FMC’s products are used across a range of crops and growing conditions, and the company serves agricultural markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and other regions worldwide.

FMC traces its origins to 1883 and has evolved through acquisitions and investments in agricultural technology into a focused crop protection company.