StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the stock.

Separately, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Fresenius Medical Care from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $32.25.

Fresenius Medical Care Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of FMS stock opened at $20.71 on Friday. Fresenius Medical Care has a 1-year low of $16.37 and a 1-year high of $27.72. 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 market cap of $12.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.50 and a 200-day moving average of $19.49.

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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Fresenius Medical Care Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.437 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Fresenius Medical Care’s payout ratio is 45.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 6.4% during the third quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in 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 during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Fresenius Medical Care by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 20,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. 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.