Argent Trust Co Takes $246,000 Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Argent Trust Co acquired a new position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMC. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of FMC by 114.3% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in FMC in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in FMC by 56.9% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in FMC by 827.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FMC opened at $62.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.85. FMC Co. has a twelve month low of $49.49 and a twelve month high of $71.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.08. FMC had a net margin of 33.97% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. FMC’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. FMC’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FMC shares. KeyCorp cut their price objective on FMC from $81.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on FMC from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of FMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of FMC from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of FMC from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FMC currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.63.

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.