Ag Growth International (TSE:AFN) Shares Down 11.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Ag Growth International Inc. (TSE:AFN)’s stock price traded down 11.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after National Bankshares lowered their price target on the stock from C$82.00 to C$77.00. National Bankshares currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ag Growth International traded as low as C$52.82 and last traded at C$54.51. 84,338 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 113% from the average session volume of 39,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$61.39.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AFN. ATB Capital decreased their price objective on Ag Growth International from C$85.00 to C$81.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. TD Securities boosted their price target on Ag Growth International from C$75.00 to C$83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Ag Growth International from C$78.00 to C$82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ag Growth International from C$75.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Desjardins lowered their price target on shares of Ag Growth International from C$86.00 to C$78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$78.22.

Ag Growth International Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$960.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 285.22, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$60.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$55.35.

Ag Growth International (TSE:AFN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported C$1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.08 by C$0.62. Ag Growth International had a net margin of 4.51% and a return on equity of 23.61%. The firm had revenue of C$379.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$414.68 million. On average, analysts expect that Ag Growth International Inc. will post 5.9042146 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ag Growth International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Ag Growth International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.44%.

Ag Growth International Company Profile

Ag Growth International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells equipment for the agriculture industry in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Farm and Commercial segments. The company offers grain, bolted, hopper, and smooth wall bins; temporary storage; unloads and sweeps systems; water tanks; secondary containment systems; fuel tanks; and storage accessories, as well as mixed flow dryers; fans and heaters; aeration products; vents and exhausters; and stirring systems.