HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in AGCO Corporation $AGCO

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in AGCO were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CCM Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in AGCO during the 1st quarter valued at about $237,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in AGCO during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,264,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in AGCO during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,012,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in AGCO during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,902,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in AGCO by 1,250.3% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 114,131 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,565,000 after acquiring an additional 105,679 shares during the period. 78.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGCO Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AGCO opened at $113.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.48. AGCO Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $73.79 and a fifty-two week high of $121.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 85.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.94.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.29. AGCO had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 0.98%.The business had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. AGCO has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-5.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AGCO Corporation will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGCO announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 9th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 12.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

AGCO Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given 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 (DPR) is 86.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AGCO

In other news, SVP Luis Fernando Sartini Felli sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 16,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,771,076.60. This trade represents a 38.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 16.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on AGCO from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AGCO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up previously from $100.00) on shares of AGCO in a research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on AGCO from $91.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AGCO from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGCO currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.63.

AGCO Company Profile

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.