FMC (NYSE:FMC) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $58.36, but opened at $63.35. FMC shares last traded at $66.85, with a volume of 650,321 shares traded.

The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. FMC had a net margin of 27.65% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS.

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. FMC’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised FMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on FMC from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays began coverage on FMC in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in FMC by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,547,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $791,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666,096 shares during the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC increased its position in FMC by 105.1% during the 4th quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,961,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $186,745,000 after buying an additional 1,518,053 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in FMC in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,227,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in FMC by 35.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,061,828 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $322,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of FMC by 5.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,290,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $973,987,000 after acquiring an additional 768,432 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Trading Up 12.6 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.70. The stock has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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.