Farmland Partners (NYSE:FPI) Lifted to “Buy” at Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Farmland Partners (NYSE:FPI – Get Rating) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $16.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised Farmland Partners from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 28th.

Farmland Partners Stock Performance

Farmland Partners stock opened at $13.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $724.33 million, a P/E ratio of 69.85 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.65. Farmland Partners has a 52 week low of $10.62 and a 52 week high of $16.43.

Farmland Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 29th. Farmland Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 126.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Farmland Partners

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FPI. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Farmland Partners during the third quarter valued at $15,060,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Farmland Partners by 17.7% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,482,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,121,000 after acquiring an additional 522,563 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Farmland Partners during the third quarter valued at $5,187,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Farmland Partners by 63.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,008,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,913,000 after acquiring an additional 392,727 shares during the period. Finally, Ambassador Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Farmland Partners by 3,118.3% during the third quarter. Ambassador Advisors LLC now owns 379,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,811,000 after acquiring an additional 367,954 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

About Farmland Partners

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Farmland Partners Inc is an internally managed real estate company that owns and seeks to acquire high-quality North American farmland and makes loans to farmers secured by farm real estate. As of the date of this release, the Company owns approximately 155,000 acres in 16 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia.