FMC (NYSE:FMC) Shares Up 7% on Strong Earnings

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)’s stock price traded up 7% during trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $65.38 and last traded at $65.23. 585,349 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 1,910,481 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.98.

The basic materials company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $918.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. FMC had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 29.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. FMC’s payout ratio is presently 22.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FMC shares. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of FMC from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on FMC from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on FMC from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lowered FMC from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Sandifer purchased 2,150 shares of FMC stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.22 per share, with a total value of $127,323.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,966,211.36. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FMC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in FMC by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 20,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 3,154 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of FMC by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 21,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,420,000 after buying an additional 7,769 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in FMC by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in FMC by 25.2% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 34,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,297,000 after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Stock Down 2.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.16, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.99 and its 200-day moving average is $57.84.

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.