Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $1.96 Million Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 40,357 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WP Advisors LLC lifted its position in FMC by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 6,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of FMC by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of FMC by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in FMC by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in FMC by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Stock Down 0.3%

FMC stock opened at $38.12 on Wednesday. FMC Co. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $68.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $791.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $783.70 million. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.09%. FMC’s payout ratio is 88.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on FMC. StockNews.com cut shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho upgraded FMC from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FMC presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.46.

Insider Activity

In other FMC news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,980. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

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.