Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) Short Interest Update

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 138,400 shares, a growth of 9.1% from the March 31st total of 126,900 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 68,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Federal Agricultural Mortgage

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pullen Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,108,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the 1st quarter valued at about $343,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,141,000. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC grew its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 11,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,259,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Stock Up 2.0 %

AGM stock opened at $189.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Federal Agricultural Mortgage has a 52 week low of $122.96 and a 52 week high of $199.40.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The credit services provider reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $354.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.86 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 22.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Federal Agricultural Mortgage will post 17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.42%.

About Federal Agricultural Mortgage

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.