FMC (NYSE:FMC) Upgraded by Barclays to “Hold” Rating

FMC (NYSE:FMC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Barclays from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FMC. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of FMC from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of FMC in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised FMC from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of FMC in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $21.00 price target on FMC in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FMC has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.25.

FMC Trading Down 2.5%

FMC opened at $10.51 on Thursday. FMC has a fifty-two week low of $9.94 and a fifty-two week high of $40.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.48 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $11.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.76.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $841.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $895.14 million. FMC had a negative net margin of 84.83% and a positive return on equity of 11.35%. The company’s revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that FMC will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 3,642.9% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of FMC during the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FMC in the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of FMC by 297.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 4,687 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in FMC in the 3rd quarter valued at about $267,000. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FMC Company Profile

FMC Corporation is a global agricultural sciences company specializing in the development, manufacture and marketing of crop protection products. Its portfolio includes herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and plant nutrition solutions designed to enhance crop yield, quality and sustainability. In addition to core crop protection, FMC delivers solutions for turf management and pest control in urban and industrial environments.

Founded in 1883 as the Bean Spray Pump Company and later known as Food Machinery Corporation, the business adopted the FMC name in 1948 and has since evolved through strategic acquisitions and divestitures.