Bank of America Reaffirms “Underperform” Rating for FMC (NYSE:FMC)

Bank of America reissued their underperform rating on shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a $48.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $61.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on FMC. KeyCorp cut their price target on FMC from $79.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Barclays upgraded shares of FMC from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.62.

FMC Stock Down 33.4 %

FMC opened at $36.00 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.96 and a 200-day moving average of $58.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. FMC has a 1-year low of $34.00 and a 1-year high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 34.93% and a return on equity of 7.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FMC will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of FMC stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total value of $270,245.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,709,485.83. The trade was a 13.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,491 shares of company stock worth $433,898 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FMC. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FMC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp boosted its position in FMC by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of FMC by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of FMC by 250.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of FMC by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 379 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.