FMC (NYSE:FMC) Upgraded at Bank of America

FMC (NYSE:FMC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $61.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $63.00. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.24% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. KeyCorp decreased their target price on FMC from $79.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup cut their price objective on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.25.

FMC Price Performance

NYSE FMC opened at $52.03 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.10. FMC has a 52 week low of $47.71 and a 52 week high of $68.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.48, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.83.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that FMC will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FMC news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of FMC stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp raised its stake in FMC by 186.2% during the third quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of FMC by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of FMC by 250.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in FMC in the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in FMC during the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.