FMC (NYSE:FMC) Cut to “Neutral” at UBS Group

UBS Group cut shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $38.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $66.00.

FMC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on FMC from $79.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

FMC Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:FMC opened at $34.51 on Friday. FMC has a 52 week low of $33.80 and a 52 week high of $68.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.39. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. Equities analysts predict that FMC will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In other news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of FMC stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,107. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMC. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of FMC by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,271,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,615 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,088,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,509,000 after acquiring an additional 685,995 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of FMC by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,164,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,602,000 after acquiring an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FMC by 1.5% during the third quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. now owns 665,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,915,000 after acquiring an additional 9,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in FMC by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 589,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,634,000 after purchasing an additional 46,137 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.