Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The credit services provider reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.43 by $0.09, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $105.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.94 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.14%.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage stock traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $166.64. 5,153 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 73,738. Federal Agricultural Mortgage has a 52-week low of $155.00 and a 52-week high of $217.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $176.72 and a 200-day moving average of $182.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Federal Agricultural Mortgage news, EVP Zachary Carpenter sold 293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.09, for a total transaction of $60,091.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,160,007.88. This represents a 2.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Bradford T. Nordholm sold 4,224 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.12, for a total value of $870,650.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 32,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,754,552.40. This represents a 11.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,017 shares of company stock valued at $1,240,807 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGM. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 295,353 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $57,381,000 after purchasing an additional 17,233 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 154,517 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,019,000 after buying an additional 13,559 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 54.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 29,247 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,682,000 after buying an additional 10,266 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage in the 2nd quarter worth $1,785,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage in the 2nd quarter worth $935,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AGM shares. Wall Street Zen cut Federal Agricultural Mortgage from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Federal Agricultural Mortgage from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $217.00 to $219.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Federal Agricultural Mortgage presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.00.

About Federal Agricultural Mortgage

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation provides a secondary market for various loans made to borrowers in the United States. It operates through four segments: Corporate AgFinance, Farm & Ranch, Rural Utilities, and Renewable Energy. The company’s Agricultural Finance line of business engages in purchasing and retaining eligible loans and securities; guaranteeing the payment of principal and interest on securities that represent interests in or obligations secured by pools of eligible loans; servicing eligible loans; and issuing LTSPCs for eligible loans.