Short Interest in AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) Increases By 16.5%

AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,190,000 shares, an increase of 16.5% from the March 31st total of 1,880,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 703,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AGCO shares. StockNews.com downgraded AGCO from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Truist Financial began coverage on AGCO in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $142.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on AGCO from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AGCO from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AGCO by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,780,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $823,220,000 after purchasing an additional 24,940 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in AGCO by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,060,587 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $371,586,000 after purchasing an additional 18,209 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in AGCO by 3,115.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,192,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $144,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,440 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AGCO by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,028,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,678,000 after purchasing an additional 142,701 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in AGCO by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 731,554 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,527,000 after purchasing an additional 24,815 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.80% of the company’s stock.

AGCO Price Performance

Shares of AGCO opened at $114.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.30, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.38 and a 200-day moving average of $117.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. AGCO has a 52 week low of $105.77 and a 52 week high of $140.46.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.03 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. AGCO had a return on equity of 26.96% and a net margin of 8.13%. AGCO’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.47 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AGCO will post 13.06 EPS for the current year.

AGCO Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. AGCO’s payout ratio is 7.42%.

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.