Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) Stock Rating Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Fresenius Medical Care to “strong sell” from “hold,” adding to a generally cautious analyst outlook. The stock has an average “Reduce” rating and a consensus price target of $23.42.
• FMS shares traded at $22.16, near the lower end of their 52-week range of $20.02 to $27.43, with a market capitalization of approximately $11.9 billion.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.66 versus a $0.62 estimate and revenue of $5.55 billion versus $5.48 billion expected. Analysts project full-year EPS of $2.25.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $19.90 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from $25.50 to $25.80 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $24.00 price objective on Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $23.42.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Price Performance

FMS traded up $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $22.16. 620,732 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,011,595. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.07. The business's fifty day moving average is $22.65 and its 200 day moving average is $22.88. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA has a fifty-two week low of $20.02 and a fifty-two week high of $27.43.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.48 billion. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 4.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 838.0% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,407 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 39.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,915 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,267 shares of the company's stock worth $2,018,000 after buying an additional 12,139 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 95.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 39,527 shares of the company's stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 19,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 96.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 99,790 shares of the company's stock worth $2,256,000 after buying an additional 48,885 shares in the last quarter. 8.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Company Profile

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA is a Germany-based health care company focused on the treatment of chronic kidney disease and kidney failure. The company provides dialysis care through a global network of outpatient clinics and supports patients with related medical services, including vascular access care, laboratory services and care coordination.

In addition to operating dialysis facilities, Fresenius Medical Care develops and manufactures products used in dialysis treatment.

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