FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Receives $48.69 Consensus PT from Brokerages

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $48.92.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FMC. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of FMC from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of FMC in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock.

FMC Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE FMC traded up $0.44 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,562,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,043,012. FMC has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $68.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.76.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FMC will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. FMC's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ronaldo Pereira purchased 5,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This represents a 12.95 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson purchased 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $223,980. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of FMC by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,291,878 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $743,338,000 after purchasing an additional 180,766 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of FMC by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,375,911 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $212,714,000 after purchasing an additional 321,241 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of FMC by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,559,107 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $173,008,000 after purchasing an additional 977,110 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of FMC by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,995,691 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $145,452,000 after purchasing an additional 54,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of FMC by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,286,177 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $111,131,000 after purchasing an additional 707,727 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.