AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $84.83, but opened at $91.32. AGCO shares last traded at $93.85, with a volume of 124,567 shares.

The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. AGCO had a positive return on equity of 13.40% and a negative net margin of 3.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share.

AGCO Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. AGCO’s dividend payout ratio is -20.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AGCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AGCO from $102.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on AGCO from $109.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Baird R W downgraded shares of AGCO from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of AGCO from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of AGCO from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.80.

Institutional Trading of AGCO

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AGCO during the first quarter worth about $312,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of AGCO by 1.2% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 17,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of AGCO by 6.9% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 38,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AGCO by 8.3% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in AGCO by 1.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,375,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.80% of the company’s stock.

AGCO Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.59 and a 200 day moving average of $94.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of -16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.16.

AGCO Company Profile

AGCO Corporation manufactures and distributes agricultural equipment and related replacement parts worldwide. It offers horsepower tractors for row crop production, soil cultivation, planting, land leveling, seeding, and commercial hay operations; utility tractors for small- and medium-sized farms, as well as for dairy, livestock, orchards, and vineyards; and compact tractors for small farms, specialty agricultural industries, landscaping, equestrian, and residential uses.