Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,127 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in FMC were worth $2,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FMC by 217.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of FMC by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of FMC by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In other news, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of FMC stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 48,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,746,899.49. This trade represents a 12.95% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of FMC stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,980. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of FMC stock opened at $38.12 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.99. FMC Co. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $68.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.10. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. The business had revenue of $791.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $783.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.09%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FMC has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FMC in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, Vertical Research raised shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.46.

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.