Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on FMC (NYSE:FMC)

FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 3,446 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 66% compared to the average daily volume of 2,073 call options.

Institutional Trading of FMC

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of FMC by 99.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,726 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares in the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the first quarter worth $43,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in FMC in the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of FMC by 47.7% in the 3rd 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 during the period. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FMC News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting FMC this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FMC announced commercial actions intended to accelerate the movement of products through distribution channels and support future replenishment demand. The measures include price reductions on selected products in Brazil, Argentina, the United States and Canada, as well as changes to the U.S. selling and pricing model. FMC third-quarter update and commercial actions
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors may view the roughly 66% increase in typical call-option activity as a sign of speculative interest or expectations of a rebound, although options activity does not change FMC’s underlying financial outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lowered its FMC price target from $11 to $9 while maintaining a “sector perform” rating. The target remains above the recent trading level, but the reduction reflects heightened uncertainty.
• Negative Sentiment: FMC now expects third-quarter revenue of only $65 million to $125 million and adjusted EBITDA of negative $565 million to negative $510 million. The revised outlook includes approximately $625 million to $675 million of charges from commercial actions, compared with analysts’ prior revenue expectations of roughly $865 million. FMC cuts revenue outlook
• Negative Sentiment: The company cited challenging market conditions and elevated inventories of higher-priced FMC products, which are restricting product movement and reducing replenishment demand. FMC also expects to discuss potential covenant modifications with its lenders, adding balance-sheet risk to the earnings shock.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced investigations into whether FMC complied with federal securities laws. These announcements do not establish wrongdoing, but they add legal and reputational uncertainty after the guidance disclosure. FMC investor investigation

Analyst Ratings Changes

FMC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $4.00 price target on shares of FMC in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of FMC in a report on Friday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of FMC in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered FMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.85.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of FMC stock traded down $2.81 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $5.28. The company had a trading volume of 19,078,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,968,833. The company has a market capitalization of $661.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.24 and a beta of 0.45. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $10.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.24. FMC has a 1-year low of $4.84 and a 1-year high of $30.95.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $841.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $895.14 million. FMC had a positive return on equity of 11.35% and a negative net margin of 84.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FMC will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1.45%.

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.