Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) Shares Up 7% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Adecoagro shares jumped 7%, trading as high as $14.95 and last at $14.8790 on Monday on lighter-than-average volume (815,769 shares vs. a 1,267,051 average).
• Despite the rally, Wall Street's consensus rating is "Hold" with a $11.53 consensus target, after mixed analyst moves that include UBS upgrading to Buy (target $16.20) and other firms trimming or raising targets.
• The company reported a recent quarterly loss (EPS -$0.15) and negative margins but announced a $0.1213 dividend payable May 19, while insiders — including CEO Mariano Bosch — sold shares recently (100,000 shares on Mar 19).

Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $14.95 and last traded at $14.8790. 815,769 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 1,267,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AGRO shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Adecoagro from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Citigroup cut Adecoagro from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Adecoagro from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $9.50 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group upgraded Adecoagro from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $16.20 in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Adecoagro from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.53.

Adecoagro Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -189.79 and a beta of -0.04. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $12.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.69.

Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $432.91 million for the quarter. Adecoagro had a negative net margin of 0.55% and a negative return on equity of 1.17%. As a group, analysts expect that Adecoagro S.A. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Adecoagro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1213 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a yield of 160.0%. Adecoagro's payout ratio is -437.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Adecoagro

In other news, CEO Mariano Bosch sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.50, for a total transaction of $1,450,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 897,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,010,110.50. This represents a 10.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 106,815 shares of company stock valued at $1,540,799.

Institutional Trading of Adecoagro

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Adecoagro by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 44,530 shares of the company's stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851 shares in the last quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Adecoagro by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 100,000 shares of the company's stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Adecoagro by 17.8% during the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 20,270 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,067 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Adecoagro by 5.0% during the first quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC now owns 73,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Adecoagro by 7.5% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 61,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 4,286 shares during the period. 45.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Adecoagro Company Profile

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.

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