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

Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) in a note issued to investors on Friday. The brokerage set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock.

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

Fresenius Medical Care Price Performance

Shares of FMS opened at $20.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.07. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. Fresenius Medical Care had a return on equity of 4.99% and a net margin of 2.56%. On average, research analysts forecast that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 98.8% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 349.3% in the fourth 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care in the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 169.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 2,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.