Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on FMC (NYSE:FMC)

FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 3,446 call options on the company. This is an increase of 66% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,073 call options.

More FMC News

Here are the key news stories impacting FMC this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FMC is taking commercial actions in Brazil, Argentina, the United States and Canada—including price reductions and changes to its U.S. selling model—to clear high-priced channel inventory and potentially restore future replenishment demand. FMC Corporation Provides Update to Third-Quarter Expectations
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high call-option activity suggests some traders are positioning for a rebound or increased volatility, but it does not establish a fundamental improvement in FMC’s outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several law firms announced investigations into whether FMC’s disclosures around its roughly $403 million September share sale and planned $1.2 billion senior secured notes offering complied with securities laws. These are allegations and investigations, not findings of wrongdoing, but they add legal and investor-confidence risk. FMC Corporation Investigation Notice
• Negative Sentiment: FMC slashed third-quarter revenue guidance to $65 million-$125 million from $840 million-$900 million, while adjusted EBITDA is now expected to be negative $565 million to negative $510 million. The company cited weak agricultural demand and elevated inventories of higher-priced products held by channel customers. FMC Cuts Third-Quarter Revenue Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: The revised outlook includes approximately $625 million-$675 million in charges from commercial actions, implying a substantial near-term financial hit and underscoring the severity of FMC’s inventory and pricing problems.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts remain concerned about FMC’s heavy debt load, potential covenant discussions, generic pesticide competition and weak farm demand. RBC cut its price target to $9, while Barclays downgraded the stock to “strong sell”; analysts have also warned that FMC’s dividend could be at risk. FMC Dividend Risk and RBC Price Target

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FMC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of FMC in the second quarter valued at $8,498,000. AXQ Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 109.9% in the second quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 366,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,217,000 after buying an additional 191,945 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in FMC by 142.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 235,089 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,704,000 after buying an additional 138,098 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in FMC during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,175,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in FMC during the 1st quarter worth about $1,401,000. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Price Performance

NYSE:FMC traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $5.66. The stock had a trading volume of 15,685,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,186,466. The company has a market capitalization of $708.18 million, a P/E ratio of -0.26 and a beta of 0.45. FMC has a 1-year low of $4.84 and a 1-year high of $30.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.12.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.04. FMC had a negative net margin of 84.83% and a positive return on equity of 11.35%. The firm had revenue of $841.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $895.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that FMC will post 1.20 EPS for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is -1.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FMC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $5.00 in a report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price target on FMC from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on FMC from $15.50 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners set a $21.00 price target on FMC in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $11.68.

About FMC

FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) is an agricultural sciences company that develops, manufactures and markets crop protection products for farmers and other agricultural professionals. Its portfolio includes herbicides, insecticides and fungicides used to help protect crops from weeds, insects and diseases.

The company also develops biological and other crop health solutions, supported by research in areas such as plant science, chemistry and biotechnology. FMC’s products are used across a range of crops and growing conditions, and the company serves agricultural markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and other regions worldwide.

FMC traces its origins to 1883 and has evolved through acquisitions and investments in agricultural technology into a focused crop protection company.