FMC (NYSE:FMC) Downgraded by Barclays to “Strong Sell”

Barclays downgraded shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of FMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Friday. Seaport Research Partners set a $21.00 target price on shares of FMC in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised FMC from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FMC currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.69.

FMC Stock Performance

FMC stock opened at $5.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. FMC has a 1 year low of $4.84 and a 1 year high of $30.95. The company has a market cap of $705.67 million, a PE ratio of -0.26 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.17.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.04. FMC had a negative net margin of 84.83% and a positive return on equity of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $841.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $895.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that FMC will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. FMC’s payout ratio is presently -1.45%.

Institutional Trading of FMC

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in FMC by 99.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,726 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in FMC by 3,642.9% during the first 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 stake in FMC in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in FMC in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in FMC by 47.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting FMC

Here are the key news stories impacting FMC this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FMC announced commercial actions—including price reductions on selected products and changes to its U.S. selling model—to reduce elevated channel inventories, improve product movement and support future replenishment demand. FMC Corporation Provides Update to Third-Quarter Expectations
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity increased, with traders purchasing approximately 3,446 call contracts versus an average of about 2,073, indicating some speculative interest despite the selloff.
• Neutral Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lowered its price target to $9 from $11 while maintaining a “sector perform” rating, signaling limited conviction in a near-term recovery. RBC Lowers FMC Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: FMC cut third-quarter revenue guidance to just $65 million–$125 million and projected adjusted EBITDA of negative $565 million to negative $510 million. The revised outlook is dramatically below prior expectations and reflects approximately $625 million–$675 million of charges tied to commercial actions. FMC Cuts Third-Quarter Revenue Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Management cited weaker-than-expected demand, challenging market conditions and unusually high inventories of more expensive FMC products held by channel customers. Those inventories are restricting product movement and delaying replenishment orders, while generic competition is forcing pricing reductions. FMC Warns of Losses and Slashes Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: FMC said it expects to comply with its debt covenants at September 30 but plans to discuss potential covenant modifications with its banks, adding financial-risk concerns.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced investigations into possible securities-law violations following the outlook reduction. These announcements do not establish wrongdoing, but they add headline and litigation risk for investors. FMC Investor Alert

About FMC

FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) is an agricultural sciences company that develops, manufactures and markets crop protection products for farmers and other agricultural professionals. Its portfolio includes herbicides, insecticides and fungicides used to help protect crops from weeds, insects and diseases.

The company also develops biological and other crop health solutions, supported by research in areas such as plant science, chemistry and biotechnology. FMC’s products are used across a range of crops and growing conditions, and the company serves agricultural markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and other regions worldwide.

FMC traces its origins to 1883 and has evolved through acquisitions and investments in agricultural technology into a focused crop protection company.