Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on FMC (NYSE:FMC)

FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 3,675 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 57% compared to the average daily volume of 2,340 call options.

FMC Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of FMC stock traded up $0.54 on Wednesday, hitting $11.91. The stock had a trading volume of 973,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,908,739. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.93 and a 200 day moving average of $14.09. FMC has a 12-month low of $10.56 and a 12-month high of $43.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.60 and a beta of 0.38.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.16. FMC had a negative net margin of 72.93% and a positive return on equity of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $762.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. FMC has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.630-1.890 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.160-0.260 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that FMC will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in FMC by 3,642.9% in the 1st 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 FMC during the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in FMC during the third quarter worth about $204,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in FMC by 297.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 4,687 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in FMC in the third quarter worth about $267,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FMC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of FMC from $17.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered FMC from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Zacks Research downgraded FMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Mizuho set a $16.00 target price on FMC in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on FMC from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FMC currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $15.54.

About FMC

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.