FMC (NYSE:FMC) Raised to Neutral at Bank of America

FMC (NYSE:FMC) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $61.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $63.00. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.08% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on FMC. UBS Group reduced their price objective on FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of FMC from $79.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho decreased their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.25.

FMC Stock Down 0.1 %

FMC stock opened at $53.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.09. FMC has a 1-year low of $47.71 and a 1-year high of $68.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.07.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a net margin of 34.93% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that FMC will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total transaction of $270,245.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,709,485.83. This represents a 13.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FMC

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FMC. Barnett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in FMC in the third quarter worth $2,265,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of FMC by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 60,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,970,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in shares of FMC by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 227,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,050,000 after buying an additional 39,230 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of FMC by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,867,000 after buying an additional 9,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha lifted its holdings in shares of FMC by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 33,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after acquiring an additional 15,662 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.