Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 150,656 Shares of AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in AGCO Co. (NYSE:AGCO) by 28.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 684,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150,656 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.92% of AGCO worth $66,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in AGCO in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in AGCO by 102.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in AGCO by 69.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in AGCO by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in AGCO by 2,238.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. 78.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGCO Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AGCO opened at $91.86 on Friday. AGCO Co. has a 52-week low of $84.35 and a 52-week high of $130.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $95.69 and a 200 day moving average of $99.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of 40.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.53.

AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.40). The business had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. AGCO had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 1.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AGCO Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AGCO Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. AGCO’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AGCO shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of AGCO from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AGCO from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of AGCO from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of AGCO from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of AGCO from $131.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AGCO presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.40.

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.