FMC (NYSE:FMC) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded FMC from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on FMC from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of FMC in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of FMC in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of FMC from $9.00 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FMC has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.71.

FMC Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of FMC stock opened at $5.44 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 416.31. FMC has a twelve month low of $4.37 and a twelve month high of $18.29. The stock has a market cap of $846.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.16 and a beta of 0.50.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported ($4.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($4.49). FMC had a negative net margin of 151.18% and a negative return on equity of 30.77%. The company had revenue of $105.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $487.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 80.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that FMC will post -3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In other FMC news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,930 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.55, for a total transaction of $32,291.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 58,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $384,013.40. This trade represents a 7.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in FMC by 2.5% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 162,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 4,023 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 188.0% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 11,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 7,795 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 40.5% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,497,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,362,000 after purchasing an additional 431,640 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 53.4% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 27,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 9,718 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of FMC by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 168,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,501,000 after buying an additional 47,113 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FMC Company Profile

FMC Corporation is an agricultural sciences company that develops and sells crop protection products for farmers and other agricultural customers. Its portfolio includes insecticides, herbicides and fungicides designed to help manage pests, weeds and crop diseases.

The company also offers biological solutions and products intended to support plant health. Its products are used across a range of crops and farming systems, and FMC serves agricultural markets around the world.

FMC traces its origins to 1883, when it was established as the Bean Spray Pump Company.