Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 146,810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,914,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AGM. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 180.0% during the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 364 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,004 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 7.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Price Performance

AGM stock opened at $195.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. has a one year low of $169.17 and a one year high of $217.60. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.02.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The credit services provider reported $4.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.17 by $0.46. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 12.75% and a return on equity of 19.43%. The business had revenue of $101.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.10 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. will post 17.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage from $205.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Federal Agricultural Mortgage news, Director Mitchell A. Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.21, for a total value of $513,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,773,835.24. This represents a 22.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Aparna Ramesh sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.86, for a total transaction of $201,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 9,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,590.12. This trade represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Profile

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation provides a secondary market for various loans made to borrowers in the United States. It operates through four segments: Corporate AgFinance, Farm & Ranch, Rural Utilities, and Renewable Energy. The company’s Agricultural Finance line of business engages in purchasing and retaining eligible loans and securities; guaranteeing the payment of principal and interest on securities that represent interests in or obligations secured by pools of eligible loans; servicing eligible loans; and issuing LTSPCs for eligible loans.