Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Strong Sell” from Brokerages

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) has been given an average rating of “Strong Sell” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.00.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “strong sell” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Stock Up 1.8%

FMS stock opened at $23.45 on Tuesday. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA has a fifty-two week low of $20.02 and a fifty-two week high of $28.96. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $12.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.80.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 4.88%.The firm had revenue of $5.34 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.8716 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 402.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA’s previous annual dividend of $0.79. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.11%.

Institutional Trading of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FMS. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 47.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,939,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,027,000 after buying an additional 942,497 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 15,052,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,592,000 after buying an additional 299,986 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 279.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 337,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,637,000 after buying an additional 248,477 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA grew its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 1,136.0% in the 4th quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 249,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,950,000 after buying an additional 229,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integral Health Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,483,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.37% of the company’s stock.

About Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA is the world’s largest integrated provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases. The company’s primary business activities encompass the operation of dialysis clinics and the manufacture and distribution of dialysis equipment, dialysis machines, dialyzers, consumables and related therapies. Through its global network of clinics, Fresenius Medical Care delivers comprehensive kidney care, including hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatments, patient education and support services.

In its products segment, the company designs and produces dialysis machines, water treatment systems and disposables such as high‐flux dialyzers and bloodlines.