FMC (NYSE:FMC) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $60.18, but opened at $63.50. FMC shares last traded at $66.11, with a volume of 305,271 shares.

The basic materials company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. FMC had a return on equity of 7.52% and a net margin of 33.97%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup initiated coverage on FMC in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded FMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of FMC from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of FMC from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in FMC by 250.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of FMC in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of FMC by 56.9% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in FMC during the first quarter worth $45,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in FMC by 1,282.3% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $8.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.48.

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.