Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FMS shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Fresenius Medical Care in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Fresenius Medical Care from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th.

Fresenius Medical Care Price Performance

FMS stock opened at $20.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.55. Fresenius Medical Care has a 12-month low of $16.37 and a 12-month high of $27.72.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. Fresenius Medical Care had a return on equity of 4.99% and a net margin of 2.56%. The business had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Fresenius Medical Care Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.437 per share. This represents a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Fresenius Medical Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 98.8% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 349.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,799 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 169.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 2,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.25% of the company’s stock.

Fresenius Medical Care Company Profile

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.