FMC (NYSE:FMC) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on FMC. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of FMC in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of FMC from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of FMC from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment 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 MarketBeat, FMC has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.46.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FMC traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,852,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,454. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80. FMC has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $68.55. The business's 50-day moving average is $38.68 and its 200 day moving average is $45.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.64.

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

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. FMC's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $223,980. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira purchased 5,600 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This represents a 12.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in FMC in the first quarter worth about $18,986,000. WBI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the first quarter worth approximately $3,259,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of FMC by 137.7% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,427 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 12,414 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of FMC by 19,282.4% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 20,933 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 20,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the first quarter worth approximately $317,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company's stock.

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.