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

FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 2,747 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 29% compared to the average daily volume of 2,124 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on FMC. Mizuho set a $16.00 price objective on FMC in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays raised shares of FMC from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of FMC in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of FMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on FMC from $15.50 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FMC. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in FMC by 3,642.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares in the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of FMC in the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of FMC during the second quarter worth about $55,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 297.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 4,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 3,714.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 8,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Trading Up 8.8%

Shares of FMC stock traded up $1.05 on Wednesday, reaching $12.93. The company had a trading volume of 1,324,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,808,984. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of -0.58 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.00 and a 200-day moving average of $13.13. FMC has a 12 month low of $9.94 and a 12 month high of $38.68.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $841.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $895.14 million. FMC had a negative net margin of 84.83% and a positive return on equity of 11.35%. FMC’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that FMC will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.45%.

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.