Mizuho Upgrades FMC (NYSE:FMC) to "Outperform"

Mizuho upgraded shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $49.00 price target on the basic materials company's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on FMC. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of FMC from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $66.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.92.

FMC Trading Down 0.6 %

FMC traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.48. 589,608 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,039,507. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. FMC has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $68.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.71. The firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, analysts expect that FMC will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.59%. FMC's payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FMC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,888,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of FMC by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,559,107 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $173,008,000 after buying an additional 977,110 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of FMC by 44.8% during 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 buying an additional 707,727 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of FMC by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,088,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $101,509,000 after buying an additional 685,995 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FMC by 327.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 627,540 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,476,000 after buying an additional 480,691 shares during the period. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.