Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) Earns Strong-Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The brokerage set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.

Separately, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Fresenius Medical Care from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.25.

Fresenius Medical Care Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE FMS opened at $20.23 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.47. Fresenius Medical Care has a 52-week low of $16.37 and a 52-week high of $27.72. The firm has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Fresenius Medical Care had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 4.99%. Equities analysts predict that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Veracity Capital LLC raised its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 172.2% during the first quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 53,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 33,543 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $584,000. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 38,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,890 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 20,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 10,584 shares during the period. 8.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fresenius Medical Care

Fresenius Medical Care AG provides dialysis and related services for individuals with renal diseases in Germany, North America, and internationally. The company offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure.