Empirical Finance LLC Buys 19,217 Shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation $AGM

Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) by 85.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,592 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,217 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage were worth $6,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 48.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 40,469 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,004,000 after acquiring an additional 13,142 shares during the period. Militia Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,187,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 124.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 35,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,290,000 after purchasing an additional 19,738 shares during the period. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 1.7% during the first quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 27,076 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,017,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 0.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 60,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,962,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. 68.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AGM. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Federal Agricultural Mortgage from $215.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Federal Agricultural Mortgage from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.00.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Price Performance

NYSE AGM opened at $209.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.68. Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation has a 52-week low of $136.57 and a 52-week high of $210.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.99.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.44 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $109.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.76 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 20.78% and a return on equity of 18.20%. Analysts anticipate that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation will post 19.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.82%.

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.