Empirical Finance LLC Purchases New Shares in Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM)

Empirical Finance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,919 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,672,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AGM. Napatree Capital LLC boosted its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 1,525 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 116.1% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,872 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,520,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners raised its position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 4.1% during the first quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 68.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Trading Up 0.5%

Federal Agricultural Mortgage stock opened at $175.23 on Friday. Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation has a one year low of $159.64 and a one year high of $217.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $187.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.99.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The credit services provider reported $4.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.33 million. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 18.77%. On average, analysts forecast that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation will post 17.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio is 37.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Insider Activity at Federal Agricultural Mortgage

In other Federal Agricultural Mortgage news, Director Eric T. Mckissack sold 728 shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.37, for a total transaction of $140,045.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,416.09. The trade was a 23.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sara Louise Faivre-Davis sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.26, for a total value of $67,291.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $336,647.26. This represents a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Company Profile

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.