Boston Partners Increases Stock Holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM)

Boston Partners increased its holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 415,716 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,140 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 3.82% of Federal Agricultural Mortgage worth $81,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGM. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 1,589.4% in 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage in the fourth quarter worth about $28,914,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 10.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 319,701 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $59,911,000 after acquiring an additional 29,917 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 10.0% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 226,983 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $42,539,000 after acquiring an additional 20,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 181.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,172 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,405,000 after acquiring an additional 11,721 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Federal Agricultural Mortgage

In other news, CFO Aparna Ramesh sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.86, for a total transaction of $201,860.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,590.12. This represents a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mitchell A. Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.21, for a total value of $513,025.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,644 shares in the company, valued at $1,773,835.24. The trade was a 22.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Federal Agricultural Mortgage from $205.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE AGM opened at $195.00 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $197.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.01. Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. has a 52-week low of $169.17 and a 52-week high of $217.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

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

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is a boost from Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

About Federal Agricultural Mortgage

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.