Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) Director Mitchell A. Johnson Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) Director Mitchell A. Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.21, for a total transaction of $513,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,773,835.24. The trade was a 22.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AGM opened at $203.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.07. Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. has a one year low of $169.17 and a one year high of $217.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.08.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The credit services provider reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.17 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $101.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.81 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 12.75% and a return on equity of 19.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. will post 17.6 EPS for the current year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGM. Boston Partners grew its position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,716 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $81,813,000 after buying an additional 15,140 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 1,589.4% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 356,001 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,114,000 after buying an additional 334,928 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 333,975 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,777,000 after buying an additional 14,274 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 297,810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $58,654,000 after buying an additional 7,283 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 255,198 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $50,261,000 after buying an additional 28,215 shares during the period. 68.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage from $205.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Company Profile

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation provides a secondary market for various loans made to borrowers in the United States. It operates through four segments: Corporate AgFinance, Farm & Ranch, Rural Utilities, and Renewable Energy. The company’s Agricultural Finance line of business engages in purchasing and retaining eligible loans and securities; guaranteeing the payment of principal and interest on securities that represent interests in or obligations secured by pools of eligible loans; servicing eligible loans; and issuing LTSPCs for eligible loans.