Brokerages Set FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Price Target at $49.46

Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.46.

Several research firms have commented on FMC. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of FMC from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on FMC from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on FMC in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

FMC Stock Performance

Shares of FMC opened at $40.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.16. FMC has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $68.55.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $791.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $783.70 million. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. Analysts forecast that FMC will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. FMC’s payout ratio is currently 88.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ronaldo Pereira acquired 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This represents a 12.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,980. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in FMC by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,291,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $743,338,000 after purchasing an additional 180,766 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in FMC by 286.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,494,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $189,618,000 after buying an additional 3,329,974 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in FMC by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,375,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $212,714,000 after buying an additional 321,241 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in FMC by 1,199.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,621,496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $151,071,000 after buying an additional 3,342,888 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in FMC by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,559,107 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $173,008,000 after buying an additional 977,110 shares during the period. 91.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.