FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.69.

FMC has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FMC in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Mizuho set a $46.00 price target on shares of FMC in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered FMC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other FMC news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total value of $163,429.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Trading of FMC

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMC. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of FMC by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 310,378 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $20,465,000 after acquiring an additional 45,752 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co purchased a new position in FMC during the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in FMC in the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of FMC by 82.9% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 49,892 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,290,000 after buying an additional 22,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in shares of FMC by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 60,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,970,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company's stock.

FMC Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of FMC stock opened at $39.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day moving average is $39.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.43. FMC has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. As a group, research analysts expect that FMC will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. FMC's payout ratio is 85.29%.

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.

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