AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,130,000 shares, a decrease of 9.7% from the June 30th total of 2,360,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 820,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

AGCO Stock Performance

Shares of AGCO stock traded down $1.89 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $92.53. The company had a trading volume of 656,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,996. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $100.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.88. AGCO has a one year low of $91.66 and a one year high of $133.84. The firm has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a PE ratio of 6.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.52.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by ($0.37). AGCO had a return on equity of 21.17% and a net margin of 3.13%. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AGCO will post 8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGCO Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. AGCO’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AGCO shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of AGCO from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of AGCO from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of AGCO from $139.00 to $129.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of AGCO from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on shares of AGCO in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AGCO presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.20.

Institutional Trading of AGCO

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in AGCO during the second quarter valued at approximately $362,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in AGCO by 3.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 170,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,649,000 after purchasing an additional 5,359 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC lifted its holdings in AGCO by 2.0% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,198,024 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $117,263,000 after purchasing an additional 23,536 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in AGCO by 5.5% during the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in AGCO by 134.7% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 5,310 shares in the last quarter. 78.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AGCO

AGCO Corporation manufactures and distributes agricultural equipment and related replacement parts worldwide. It offers horsepower tractors for row crop production, soil cultivation, planting, land leveling, seeding, and commercial hay operations; utility tractors for small- and medium-sized farms, as well as for dairy, livestock, orchards, and vineyards; and compact tractors for small farms, specialty agricultural industries, landscaping, equestrian, and residential uses.