FMC (NYSE:FMC) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.14 EPS

FMC (NYSE:FMC) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14, Zacks reports. FMC had a net margin of 34.93% and a return on equity of 7.68%.

FMC Stock Performance

NYSE FMC traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $54.00. 3,810,550 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,541,860. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84. 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 1 year low of $47.71 and a 1 year high of $68.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.88.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho lowered their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America raised shares of FMC from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $63.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In other news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total value of $270,245.43. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,709,485.83. The trade was a 13.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of FMC stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,491 shares of company stock worth $433,898 over the last three months. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.