Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.50 (NYSE:AGM)

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 15th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of 1.50 per share by the credit services provider on Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage has increased its dividend by an average of 16.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Federal Agricultural Mortgage has a dividend payout ratio of 31.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Federal Agricultural Mortgage to earn $18.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.8%.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of AGM opened at $196.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.97. Federal Agricultural Mortgage has a 1 year low of $159.64 and a 1 year high of $217.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.22.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) last released its quarterly 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. Federal Agricultural Mortgage had a net margin of 12.75% and a return on equity of 19.43%. The company had revenue of $96.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.33 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Federal Agricultural Mortgage will post 17.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Federal Agricultural Mortgage

In other news, Director Robert G. Sexton acquired 1,000 shares of Federal Agricultural Mortgage stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $195.62 per share, with a total value of $195,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,195.54. This trade represents a 7.99% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sara Louise Faivre-Davis sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.26, for a total value of $67,291.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $336,647.26. This trade represents a 16.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,850 shares of company stock worth $782,176. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federal Agricultural Mortgage

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Federal Agricultural Mortgage stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Federal Agricultural Mortgage Co. (NYSE:AGM) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Federal Agricultural Mortgage worth $1,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.