Short Interest in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Grows By 9.4%

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,310,000 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the November 30th total of 5,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

FMC Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE FMC opened at $48.61 on Thursday. FMC has a twelve month low of $47.71 and a twelve month high of $68.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.18, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.42.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a net margin of 34.93% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that FMC will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of FMC from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total transaction of $270,245.43. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,709,485.83. The trade was a 13.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 6,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,326 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FMC Company Profile

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.