VELA Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation $AGM

VELA Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) by 78.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 12,247 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage were worth $578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 212 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 7.1% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 39.0% in the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 385 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL boosted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 1.9% in the third quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 6,612 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 6,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 68.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Stock Performance

NYSE AGM opened at $174.93 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $157.39 and its 200-day moving average is $166.20. Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation has a 12-month low of $136.57 and a 12-month high of $210.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.02.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The credit services provider reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by ($0.84). The firm had revenue of $101.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.45 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.73%. Sell-side analysts predict that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation will post 19.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is a boost from Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AGM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.00.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Company Profile

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.