Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) Sees Large Volume Increase After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating. Morgan Stanley now has a $13.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $9.50. Approximately 960,410 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 13% from the previous session’s volume of 848,919 shares.The stock last traded at $13.7140 and had previously closed at $12.45.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America raised Adecoagro from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Adecoagro from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Adecoagro from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Adecoagro from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Adecoagro from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Adecoagro currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Adecoagro

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AGRO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Adecoagro by 48.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 86,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 28,275 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of Adecoagro by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 189,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 32,169 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Adecoagro during the 2nd quarter valued at $277,000. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Adecoagro by 105.9% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 31,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 16,260 shares during the period. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Adecoagro by 166.8% in the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 252,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,305,000 after purchasing an additional 157,655 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.25% of the company’s stock.

Adecoagro Stock Up 9.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of -170.59 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.07 and a 200-day moving average of $8.33.

Adecoagro (NYSE:AGRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 16th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.07). Adecoagro had a negative net margin of 0.55% and a negative return on equity of 1.25%. The business had revenue of $415.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $371.95 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Adecoagro S.A. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Adecoagro

Adecoagro (NYSE: AGRO) is a leading agricultural and renewable energy company with core operations in South America. Founded in 2002 by Argentine entrepreneur Alejandro Bulgheroni, the company has grown into a vertically integrated platform covering crop production, sugar and ethanol manufacturing, and dairy operations. Adecoagro’s business model spans the full value chain, from seed selection and planting through harvesting, processing and distribution of commodities.

The company manages over 700,000 hectares of farmland across Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.