Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $228.00 to $255.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Federal Agricultural Mortgage traded as high as $244.16 and last traded at $244.31, with a volume of 16675 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $220.30.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AGM. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Federal Agricultural Mortgage from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 640.0% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 185 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 53.6% in the fourth 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 bought a new position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Stock Up 6.3%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.11. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.87 by $0.53. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 29.98%.The company had revenue of $125.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.51 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation will post 20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

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.