StockNews.com Upgrades FMC (NYSE:FMC) to Buy

FMC (NYSE:FMC) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp decreased their price target on FMC from $79.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

FMC Trading Down 3.2 %

FMC stock opened at $34.51 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.37. 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 has a 12 month low of $33.80 and a 12 month high of $68.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 34.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FMC will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In other FMC news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total transaction of $270,245.43. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 28,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,709,485.83. The trade was a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total value of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,491 shares of company stock worth $433,898 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in FMC by 27.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,271,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,151,000 after buying an additional 1,343,615 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in FMC by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,088,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,509,000 after acquiring an additional 685,995 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in FMC by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,164,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,602,000 after purchasing an additional 28,059 shares during the period. New South Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in FMC by 1.5% in the third quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. now owns 665,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,915,000 after purchasing an additional 9,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in FMC by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 589,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,634,000 after purchasing an additional 46,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

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.