FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,760,000 shares, an increase of 12.4% from the March 31st total of 8,680,000 shares. Approximately 7.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Sandifer bought 2,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.22 per share, for a total transaction of $127,323.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,966,211.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of FMC

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of FMC in the first quarter worth about $493,000. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in FMC in the 1st quarter worth approximately $313,000. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in FMC in the 1st quarter worth approximately $347,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in FMC by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,729 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 1,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of FMC by 15.9% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 26,119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,664,000 after acquiring an additional 3,575 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FMC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of FMC from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on FMC from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America lowered FMC from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded FMC from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.75.

FMC Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of FMC traded down $1.24 on Wednesday, reaching $57.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,380,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,935,780. FMC has a 12-month low of $49.49 and a 12-month high of $121.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.95.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion. FMC had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 29.45%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that FMC will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. FMC's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.03%.

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.

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