Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 188,500 shares, an increase of 12.0% from the November 30th total of 168,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 43,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Bradford T. Nordholm sold 5,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.37, for a total transaction of $1,082,426.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,770,360.48. This represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mitchell A. Johnson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.69, for a total value of $307,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,263,871.40. This trade represents a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,573 shares of company stock worth $1,808,561 over the last ninety days. 2.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federal Agricultural Mortgage

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AGM. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the third quarter worth approximately $175,610,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 25.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 178,008 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,187,000 after purchasing an additional 36,380 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 319,701 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $59,911,000 after purchasing an additional 29,917 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage in the third quarter valued at about $3,949,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 10.0% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 226,983 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,539,000 after acquiring an additional 20,603 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Stock Performance

Shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage stock traded up $0.69 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $196.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 32,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,602. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $202.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.45. Federal Agricultural Mortgage has a one year low of $169.17 and a one year high of $217.60. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The credit services provider reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.14 by ($0.04). Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 20.14%. The company had revenue of $411.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Federal Agricultural Mortgage will post 15.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s payout ratio is 36.01%.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Company 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.