Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $15.89 and last traded at $15.0250, with a volume of 2758393 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AGRO shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Adecoagro from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $9.50 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Adecoagro from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $8.00 to $16.20 in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Adecoagro from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Adecoagro in a report on Monday, February 16th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Adecoagro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Adecoagro presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.84.

Adecoagro Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.52 and a 200-day moving average of $8.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of -190.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.08.

Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $432.91 million for the quarter. Adecoagro had a negative net margin of 0.55% and a negative return on equity of 1.17%. Sell-side analysts expect that Adecoagro S.A. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mariano Bosch sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total value of $1,450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 897,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,010,110.50. This trade represents a 10.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Adecoagro

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGRO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Adecoagro by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 86,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 28,275 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Adecoagro by 20.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 189,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,112,000 after acquiring an additional 32,169 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Adecoagro by 113.8% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 57,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 30,602 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Adecoagro by 86.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 458,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 212,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE purchased a new position in Adecoagro in the second quarter valued at $774,000. 45.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Adecoagro

Adecoagro (NYSE: AGRO) is a leading agricultural and renewable energy company with core operations in South America. Founded in 2002 by Argentine entrepreneur Alejandro Bulgheroni, the company has grown into a vertically integrated platform covering crop production, sugar and ethanol manufacturing, and dairy operations. Adecoagro’s business model spans the full value chain, from seed selection and planting through harvesting, processing and distribution of commodities.

The company manages over 700,000 hectares of farmland across Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.