Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) Short Interest Up 17.8% in March

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 352,399 shares, a growth of 17.8% from the February 26th total of 299,122 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 96,295 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Federal Agricultural Mortgage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGM. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 8.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 5.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,469 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 10.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 21,683 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,066,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 2,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. 68.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage from $219.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.00.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Price Performance

AGM stock traded up $2.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $150.50. 26,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 123,166. Federal Agricultural Mortgage has a 52 week low of $136.57 and a 52 week high of $210.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $161.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.99.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The credit services provider reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.84). The firm had revenue of $101.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.45 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 17.93%. As a group, analysts expect that Federal Agricultural Mortgage will post 17.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio is 38.46%.

About Federal Agricultural Mortgage

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: AGM), commonly known as Farmer Mac, is a government-sponsored enterprise chartered in 1988 under the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987. Headquartered in Washington, DC, Farmer Mac was established to enhance the availability of mortgage credit for the agricultural and rural utility sectors. The corporation operates as a secondary market for agricultural real estate and rural infrastructure loans, providing lenders with liquidity and risk management solutions.

The company’s principal business activities include purchasing and securitizing long-term fixed-rate agricultural mortgage loans and rural utilities loans originated by approved lenders.