Ag Growth International (TSE:AFN) Hits New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Ag Growth International Inc. (TSE:AFN) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday after Desjardins lowered their price target on the stock from C$25.00 to C$20.00. Desjardins currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ag Growth International traded as low as C$13.49 and last traded at C$13.87, with a volume of 539360 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$14.32.

AFN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Ag Growth International from C$30.00 to C$20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. ATB Cormark Capital Markets reduced their price target on Ag Growth International from C$25.00 to C$18.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. TD upped their price objective on Ag Growth International from C$22.00 to C$30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on Ag Growth International from C$19.00 to C$23.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, National Bank Financial dropped their target price on Ag Growth International from C$20.00 to C$19.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ag Growth International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$23.56.

Insider Activity

In other Ag Growth International news, Director Rohit Bhardwaj bought 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$24.00 per share, with a total value of C$204,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 28,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$684,000. This trade represents a 42.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

More Ag Growth International News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ag Growth International this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Despite reducing its target to C$20 from C$30, RBC retained an “outperform” rating. The revised target still implies considerable potential upside from recent levels. Ticker Report analyst rating
• Positive Sentiment: Desjardins lowered its target to C$20 from C$25 but maintained a “buy” rating, suggesting the firm views the recent weakness as an opportunity if the company’s performance improves. BayStreet.CA analyst ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: National Bank Financial cut its target to C$19 from C$20 and kept a “sector perform” rating, while ATB Cormark reduced its target to C$18 from C$25 and also rated the shares “sector perform.” These ratings indicate expectations for performance broadly in line with the sector. BayStreet.CA analyst ratings
• Negative Sentiment: The widespread target cuts point to lower near-term expectations across the analyst community, even though the revised targets remain above the current share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Ag Growth reported a quarterly loss of C$2.06 per share on revenue of C$323.18 million. Its negative 3.80% net margin and 20.06% negative return on equity reinforce concerns about profitability and financial performance. Ag Growth International quarterly earnings report

Ag Growth International Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$20.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$23.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 541.43. The stock has a market cap of C$253.30 million, a P/E ratio of -2.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.99.

Ag Growth International (TSE:AFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported C($2.06) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$323.18 million during the quarter. Ag Growth International had a negative net margin of 8.43% and a negative return on equity of 48.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ag Growth International Inc. will post 6.5761006 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ag Growth International

Ag Growth International Inc manufactures portable and stationary grain handling, storage, and conditioning equipment, including augers, belt conveyors, grain storage bins, grain handling accessories, grain aeration equipment, and grain drying systems. The company operates mainly in Portable handling, permanent handling, storage and conditioning, livestock, and manufacturing sectors. Some of its brands are batco, wheatheart, westfield, storm, rem, hi roller, union iron, hsi, tramco, ptm, vis, nuvision, twister, grain guard, airlanco, westeel, frame, and entringer.