Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Stake in AGCO Corporation $AGCO

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in AGCO Corporation by 12.8%, selling 87,251 shares, and now owns 594,598 shares valued at approximately $55.04 million.
• AGCO announced a $1 billion stock buyback plan as part of its strategy to repurchase up to 12.2% of its shares, signaling confidence in the company's valuation.
• Brokerage firm Zacks Research upgraded AGCO from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting positive sentiment about the company's growth prospects.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its position in shares of AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO - Free Report) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 594,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 87,251 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.80% of AGCO worth $55,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AGCO by 1.7% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 8,241 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in AGCO by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,635 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in AGCO by 1.1% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,857 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,559,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in AGCO by 1.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,858 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC raised its position in AGCO by 0.9% during the first quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 21,760 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 78.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AGCO shares. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $119.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of AGCO in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on AGCO from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on AGCO from $91.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AGCO from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded AGCO from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AGCO news, SVP Luis Fernando Sartini Felli sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 16,189 shares in the company, valued at $1,771,076.60. This trade represents a 38.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 16.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AGCO Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE AGCO traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $106.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 874,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 688,020. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business's 50 day moving average is $110.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.31. AGCO Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.79 and a 12-month high of $121.16. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.20.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. AGCO has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.750-5.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AGCO Corporation will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

AGCO Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. AGCO's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.57%.

AGCO declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 9th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 12.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AGCO 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.