Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Position in AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,499 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AGCO. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AGCO during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Citizens National Bank Trust Department grew its holdings in AGCO by 400.0% during the first quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management purchased a new position in AGCO during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in AGCO by 140.7% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in AGCO by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 908 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. 78.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGCO Price Performance

AGCO stock traded down $2.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $109.72. The company had a trading volume of 633,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 907,724. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.67. AGCO Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.79 and a 12-month high of $121.16. The company has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $106.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.06.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.29. AGCO had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 0.98%. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.53 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AGCO Corporation will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

AGCO announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 9th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 12.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

AGCO Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. AGCO's dividend payout ratio is 86.57%.

Insider Activity at AGCO

In related news, SVP Kelvin Eugene Bennett sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.18, for a total transaction of $26,545.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 17,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,408.40. The trade was a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 16.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AGCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AGCO from $130.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of AGCO from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of AGCO in a research note on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $119.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of AGCO in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on AGCO from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.63.

AGCO Company Profile

AGCO Corporation manufactures and distributes agricultural equipment and related replacement parts worldwide. It offers horsepower tractors for row crop production, soil cultivation, planting, land leveling, seeding, and commercial hay operations; utility tractors for small- and medium-sized farms, as well as for dairy, livestock, orchards, and vineyards; and compact tractors for small farms, specialty agricultural industries, landscaping, equestrian, and residential uses.