FMC (NYSE:FMC) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Here's Why

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $47.72 and last traded at $47.86, with a volume of 253791 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $49.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FMC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of FMC from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FMC currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.69.

FMC Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.59. The stock has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 34.93%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. FMC's payout ratio is 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the company's 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 28,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,709,485.83. This represents a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMC. Commerce Bank raised its position in FMC by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,135 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of FMC by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 6,465 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of FMC by 56.9% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 678 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in FMC by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in FMC by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,326 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently 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.