Washington Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Washington Capital Management Inc. increased its position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 77.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in FMC were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp grew its position in shares of FMC by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in FMC by 90.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of FMC by 250.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FMC during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of FMC in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Price Performance

NYSE FMC opened at $56.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.85, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.83. FMC Co. has a 1-year low of $47.71 and a 1-year high of $68.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $53.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.97.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 34.93%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FMC. Citigroup raised their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upgraded FMC from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of FMC from $79.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.75.

Insider Activity at FMC

In related news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,709,485.83. This represents a 13.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,491 shares of company stock worth $433,898. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FMC 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.