FMC (NYSE:FMC) Sets New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $55.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. FMC traded as low as $49.24 and last traded at $49.39, with a volume of 1251347 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $51.70.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on FMC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of FMC from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In other news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total transaction of $270,245.43. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,709,485.83. This trade represents a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp grew its position in FMC by 186.2% in the third quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in FMC by 90.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position 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 buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FMC in the third quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.88.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 34.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.85%. FMC’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

FMC Company Profile

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.