Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 18,146 Shares of AGCO Corporation $AGCO

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 487,815 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,146 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.65% of AGCO worth $45,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AGCO during the 1st quarter worth approximately $602,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in AGCO by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,186 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in AGCO by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 40,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,779,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new stake in AGCO in the 1st quarter valued at $310,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in AGCO by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,406,000 after acquiring an additional 6,187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on AGCO from $91.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $119.00 price target (up previously from $100.00) on shares of AGCO in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of AGCO in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AGCO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on AGCO from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.63.

AGCO Stock Performance

AGCO opened at $112.20 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. AGCO Corporation has a 52-week low of $73.79 and a 52-week high of $121.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $107.82 and its 200-day moving average is $99.24.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. AGCO had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 0.98%. AGCO’s quarterly revenue was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AGCO Corporation will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGCO Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. AGCO’s dividend payout ratio is 86.57%.

AGCO announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 9th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 12.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Luis Fernando Sartini Felli sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,771,076.60. This represents a 38.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 16.90% of the company’s stock.

About AGCO

AGCO Corporation manufactures and distributes agricultural equipment and related replacement parts worldwide. It offers horsepower tractors for row crop production, soil cultivation, planting, land leveling, seeding, and commercial hay operations; utility tractors for small- and medium-sized farms, as well as for dairy, livestock, orchards, and vineyards; and compact tractors for small farms, specialty agricultural industries, landscaping, equestrian, and residential uses.