American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 21,670 Shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,261 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,670 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.02% of Federal Agricultural Mortgage worth $43,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGM. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage during the fourth quarter worth approximately $274,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 415,716 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $81,813,000 after purchasing an additional 15,140 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 211.5% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 4,984 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 1,589.4% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 356,001 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $70,114,000 after buying an additional 334,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $684,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Aparna Ramesh sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 9,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,865,590.12. The trade was a 9.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mitchell A. Johnson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.21, for a total transaction of $513,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,644 shares in the company, valued at $1,773,835.24. This represents a 22.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Stock Performance

Federal Agricultural Mortgage stock opened at $193.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. has a 1 year low of $169.17 and a 1 year high of $217.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $198.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.11.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The credit services provider reported $4.63 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $92.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. will post 17.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

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.