FMC (NYSE:FMC) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $60.18, but opened at $63.50. FMC shares last traded at $66.11, with a volume of 305,271 shares changing hands.

The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a net margin of 33.97% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FMC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of FMC from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on FMC from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on FMC from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of FMC from $81.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FMC has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in FMC by 250.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of FMC during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of FMC by 56.9% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 678 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the first quarter worth $45,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in FMC by 1,282.3% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 857 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company's stock.

FMC Stock Up 10.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

About FMC

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.