Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE: AGM) gapped up at the open, rising from a previous close of $196.09 to an opening price of $204.63 and trading as high as $208.43 intraday.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising its price target to $228 and the consensus rating listed as Moderate Buy.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, posting $4.74 EPS versus the $4.44 estimate, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share for a 3.1% yield.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $196.09, but opened at $204.63. Federal Agricultural Mortgage shares last traded at $208.4280, with a volume of 7,930 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Price Performance

The company's 50 day moving average is $186.00 and its 200 day moving average is $172.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.99.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.44 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $109.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.76 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 20.78% and a return on equity of 18.20%. Research analysts anticipate that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation will post 19.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Federal Agricultural Mortgage's payout ratio is presently 36.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 5.9% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 312,646 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $52,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,293 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 10,160 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 3,293 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 261,128.6% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 128,002 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $22,473,000 after acquiring an additional 127,953 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 46,137 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $8,100,000 after acquiring an additional 12,603 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 436,786 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $76,686,000 after acquiring an additional 16,107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.03% of the company's stock.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Company Profile

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.

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