Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO) Short Interest Up 50.1% in August

Key Points

• Adecoagro S.A. experienced a significant increase in short interest in August, rising by 50.1% to a total of 1,130,000 shares.
• Several analysts have downgraded the stock, with Morgan Stanley lowering its price target from $10.00 to $9.50, and UBS Group reducing theirs from $9.90 to $8.50.
• The company's quarterly earnings revealed a reported EPS of ($0.14), missing expectations by ($0.40), despite revenues of $405.66 million which surpassed estimates.

Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,130,000 shares, a growth of 50.1% from the August 15th total of 752,800 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 475,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 475,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 4.3% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Adecoagro

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in Adecoagro by 143,775.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Adecoagro during the first quarter worth $133,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Adecoagro by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,406 shares of the company's stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 2,794 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Adecoagro by 103.0% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 15,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 7,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Adecoagro during the fourth quarter valued at $153,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGRO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Adecoagro from $9.90 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Adecoagro from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Adecoagro from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, September 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Adecoagro has a consensus rating of "Sell" and a consensus target price of $9.60.

Adecoagro Price Performance

Adecoagro stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $7.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 640,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 478,182. The firm has a market capitalization of $790.42 million, a PE ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 0.65. Adecoagro has a fifty-two week low of $7.89 and a fifty-two week high of $12.07. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $8.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.40). The company had revenue of $405.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.00 million. Adecoagro had a return on equity of 3.24% and a net margin of 2.30%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Adecoagro will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

About Adecoagro

Adecoagro SA operates as an agro-industrial company in South America. The company mainly operates through three segments: Farming; Sugar, Ethanol and Energy; and Land Transformation. It engages in farming crops, rice and other agricultural products, dairy operations, and land transformation activities, as well as sugar, ethanol, and energy production activities.