FMC (NYSE:FMC) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $55.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. FMC traded as low as $49.24 and last traded at $49.39, with a volume of 1251347 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.70.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their target price on FMC from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 28,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,709,485.83. This trade represents a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FMC

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp lifted its holdings in shares of FMC by 186.2% during the third quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in FMC by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of FMC by 250.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of FMC by 56.9% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FMC during the third quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Stock Down 5.0 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $59.15 and its 200-day moving average is $59.96. The company has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. FMC had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 34.93%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

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.