Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Zacks Research cut shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on FMS. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a report on Friday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $28.00.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Stock Up 0.5%

FMS stock opened at $21.67 on Wednesday. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA has a 12 month low of $20.02 and a 12 month high of $29.07. The firm has a market cap of $12.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The business had revenue of $5.34 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.8716 per share. This is an increase from Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA’s previous annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a dividend yield of 402.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMS. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 8,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 10,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 18,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 121.6% during the 4th quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 1,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.37% of the company’s stock.

About Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA is the world’s largest integrated provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases. The company’s primary business activities encompass the operation of dialysis clinics and the manufacture and distribution of dialysis equipment, dialysis machines, dialyzers, consumables and related therapies. Through its global network of clinics, Fresenius Medical Care delivers comprehensive kidney care, including hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatments, patient education and support services.

In its products segment, the company designs and produces dialysis machines, water treatment systems and disposables such as high‐flux dialyzers and bloodlines.