FMC Co. (FMC) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 27th

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.58 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th.

FMC has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.8% per year over the last three years. FMC has a dividend payout ratio of 46.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect FMC to earn $5.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.6%.

FMC Stock Down 3.9 %

FMC stock opened at $62.36 on Monday. FMC has a fifty-two week low of $49.49 and a fifty-two week high of $125.20. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $57.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.92, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.86.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). FMC had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 29.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FMC will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Sandifer purchased 2,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.22 per share, for a total transaction of $127,323.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 50,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,966,211.36. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FMC. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in FMC during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of FMC by 109.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the period. Aspect Partners LLC bought a new position in FMC in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in FMC by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 52,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,298,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in FMC in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,862,000. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FMC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on FMC from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of FMC from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on FMC in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.56.

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.