Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Saturday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a sell rating. The stock traded as low as $148.53 and last traded at $149.6030, with a volume of 451389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.04.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AGM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $217.00 to $219.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federal Agricultural Mortgage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGM. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 12,800.0% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 129 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 212 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 271 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The credit services provider reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by ($0.84). The business had revenue of $101.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.45 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 18.20%. On average, research analysts forecast that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation will post 17.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.06%.

About Federal Agricultural Mortgage

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: AGM), commonly known as Farmer Mac, is a government-sponsored enterprise chartered in 1988 under the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987. Headquartered in Washington, DC, Farmer Mac was established to enhance the availability of mortgage credit for the agricultural and rural utility sectors. The corporation operates as a secondary market for agricultural real estate and rural infrastructure loans, providing lenders with liquidity and risk management solutions.

The company’s principal business activities include purchasing and securitizing long-term fixed-rate agricultural mortgage loans and rural utilities loans originated by approved lenders.