FMC (NYSE:FMC) Price Target Raised to $79.00 at KeyCorp

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) had its target price lifted by KeyCorp from $76.00 to $79.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on FMC. UBS Group raised FMC from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $84.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America cut FMC from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and cut their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $57.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut FMC from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, March 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on FMC from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FMC currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $71.75.

FMC Stock Performance

FMC stock traded up $3.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,817,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,036,606. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.87. FMC has a 52 week low of $49.49 and a 52 week high of $125.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. FMC had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 29.45%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FMC will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. FMC's payout ratio is 22.03%.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Sandifer bought 2,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.22 per share, for a total transaction of $127,323.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 50,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,966,211.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FMC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in FMC by 210.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,745,695 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $236,167,000 after acquiring an additional 2,537,717 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in FMC in the 4th quarter valued at $215,051,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in FMC by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,547,766 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $791,137,000 after buying an additional 1,666,096 shares in the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 105.1% during the 4th quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,961,857 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $186,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in FMC by 80.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,557,733 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $319,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142,531 shares during the last quarter. 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.