FMS - Fresenius Medical Care: World Leader In Dialysis But Still Not Exciting

• FMS, an underfollowed company from Germany, is the world’s leading provider of products and services for patients with renal diseases.
• It controls the entire value chain from the manufacturing of dialysis equipment to a global network of more than 4,000 dialysis clinics.
• The company's business model is particularly recession-resistant and is expected to continue to grow at a moderate rate. However, Fresenius' profitability leaves a lot to be desired.
• Fresenius' dividend has been increased since at least 1998 at a CAGR of 9.4%. Notably, the dividend growth rate has not slowed down significantly over the years.
• While dividend growth is expected to continue, I would like to see management prioritize deleveraging over buybacks given the weak interest coverage ratio of currently only 4.4x normalized FCF.

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