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

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $46.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. FMC traded as low as $34.79 and last traded at $34.76, with a volume of 3731191 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.04.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on FMC. Citigroup upped their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded FMC from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of FMC from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.77.

Insider Activity at FMC

In other FMC news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of FMC stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total transaction of $270,245.43. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of FMC 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,491 shares of company stock worth $433,898. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millburn Ridgefield Corp grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 186.2% in the third quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 90.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 250.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of FMC in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in FMC during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 91.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FMC Stock Down 35.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.99, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.85.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 34.93% and a return on equity of 7.68%. Sell-side analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.68%. FMC’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

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.