Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) Announces Annual Dividend of $0.44

Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) announced an annual dividend on Monday, April 15th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of 0.437 per share on Monday, June 3rd. This represents a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th.

Fresenius Medical Care has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 5.5% annually over the last three years. Fresenius Medical Care has a dividend payout ratio of 32.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Fresenius Medical Care to earn $1.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.8%.

Fresenius Medical Care Stock Performance

NYSE:FMS opened at $18.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.42. Fresenius Medical Care has a fifty-two week low of $16.37 and a fifty-two week high of $27.72.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. Fresenius Medical Care had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 4.99%. Research analysts anticipate that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 4,522 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fresenius Medical Care during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 7,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 74,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 73,297 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new position in Fresenius Medical Care during the 4th quarter valued at $301,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Fresenius Medical Care during the 4th quarter valued at $329,000. 8.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FMS shares. Morgan Stanley cut Fresenius Medical Care from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Fresenius Medical Care from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.25.

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.