Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) Trading 6.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO) shot up 6.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $10.20 and last traded at $10.23. 378,096 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 1,158,282 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AGRO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Adecoagro from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Adecoagro from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $9.50 to $13.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Adecoagro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Citigroup cut Adecoagro from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Adecoagro from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $8.00 to $16.20 in a research report on Monday, March 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.12.

Adecoagro Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 508.50 and a beta of -0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.59 and its 200-day moving average is $10.90.

Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $419.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $408.94 million. Adecoagro had a negative return on equity of 2.38% and a net margin of 0.95%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Adecoagro S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Adecoagro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $0.1213 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a yield of 160.0%. Adecoagro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,200.00%.

Institutional Trading of Adecoagro

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGRO. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Adecoagro during the fourth quarter worth about $88,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Adecoagro during the 4th quarter worth about $123,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Adecoagro in the 4th quarter valued at about $147,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Adecoagro by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 17,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 5,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in Adecoagro in the fourth quarter valued at $159,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.25% of the company’s stock.

About Adecoagro

Adecoagro (NYSE: AGRO) is a leading agricultural and renewable energy company with core operations in South America. Founded in 2002 by Argentine entrepreneur Alejandro Bulgheroni, the company has grown into a vertically integrated platform covering crop production, sugar and ethanol manufacturing, and dairy operations. Adecoagro’s business model spans the full value chain, from seed selection and planting through harvesting, processing and distribution of commodities.

The company manages over 700,000 hectares of farmland across Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.