Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

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

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Price Performance

Shares of AGM stock opened at $149.60 on Friday. Federal Agricultural Mortgage has a twelve month low of $148.53 and a twelve month high of $212.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federal Agricultural Mortgage

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AGM. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,916,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the third quarter valued at $1,063,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 263,396 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $51,173,000 after acquiring an additional 18,846 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 420,679 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,665,000 after acquiring an additional 43,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the 2nd quarter worth about $350,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

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.