StockNews.com Downgrades FMC (NYSE:FMC) to Sell

FMC (NYSE:FMC) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

FMC has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of FMC from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $84.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. BNP Paribas cut shares of FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of FMC from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of FMC from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of FMC from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.75.

FMC Trading Up 1.6 %

FMC stock traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $56.94. 1,458,881 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,995,429. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.52. FMC has a one year low of $49.49 and a one year high of $124.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a PE ratio of 5.41, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.31.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). FMC had a net margin of 29.45% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.37 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that FMC will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Sandifer acquired 2,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.22 per share, for a total transaction of $127,323.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,966,211.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FMC. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in FMC by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,326 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 908 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in FMC in the 1st quarter worth approximately $191,000. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in FMC in the 1st quarter worth approximately $224,000. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in FMC in the 1st quarter worth approximately $383,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in FMC by 872,245.0% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 174,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,955,000 after buying an additional 174,449 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

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.