LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Invests $554,000 in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI acquired a new position in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,135 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FMC by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,164,403 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $56,602,000 after acquiring an additional 28,059 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,573,000. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter worth approximately $208,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of FMC by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,416 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in FMC by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,363 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 5,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company's stock.

FMC Price Performance

NYSE FMC traded down $0.69 on Monday, hitting $39.87. 1,767,779 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,028,514. FMC Co. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $68.55. The stock has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.67 and a 200-day moving average of $44.93.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.10. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. The company had revenue of $791.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $783.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. FMC's revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. FMC's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This trade represents a 12.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $223,980. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FMC shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered FMC from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.46.

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.