Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) Reaches New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Saturday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a sell rating. The stock traded as low as $148.53 and last traded at $149.6030, with a volume of 451389 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $174.04.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Federal Agricultural Mortgage from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $219.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGM. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 8.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,469 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,025,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 21,683 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,066,000 after buying an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 54.1% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after buying an additional 2,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. 68.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.89.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The credit services provider reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by ($0.84). The company had revenue of $101.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.45 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 18.20%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation will post 17.6 EPS for the current year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

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

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.