Morgan Stanley Upgrades Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) to Equal Weight

Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) was upgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $13.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $9.50. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.10% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Adecoagro in a report on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Adecoagro from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on Adecoagro in a research report on Monday, February 16th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Zacks Research lowered Adecoagro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Adecoagro from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.20.

Adecoagro Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGRO opened at $10.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.46 and a beta of 0.44. Adecoagro has a 1-year low of $6.89 and a 1-year high of $11.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 16th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $415.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $371.95 million. Adecoagro had a return on equity of 3.09% and a net margin of 1.67%. Research analysts expect that Adecoagro will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Adecoagro

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Adecoagro by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 86,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 28,275 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew 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 valued at $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 32,169 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Adecoagro during the second quarter valued at about $277,000. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Adecoagro by 105.9% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 31,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 16,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Adecoagro by 166.8% in the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 252,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,305,000 after buying an additional 157,655 shares in the last quarter. 45.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Adecoagro Company Profile

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.