Denali Advisors LLC Takes $2.23 Million Position in Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM)

Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 11,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,226,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AGM. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,563 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 7.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,106 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 10.6% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 172,129 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,259,000 after buying an additional 16,487 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 10.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 319,701 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $59,911,000 after buying an additional 29,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,735 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 68.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AGM opened at $202.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.08. Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. has a twelve month low of $169.17 and a twelve month high of $217.60.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The credit services provider reported $4.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $101.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. will post 17.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Federal Agricultural Mortgage’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.04%.

Insider Transactions at Federal Agricultural Mortgage

In other Federal Agricultural Mortgage news, CEO Bradford T. Nordholm sold 5,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.37, for a total transaction of $1,082,426.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,770,360.48. This represents a 10.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.21% of the company’s stock.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage 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.