Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp Stock Upgraded (AGM)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Federal Agricultural Mortgage (NYSE:AGM) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from sell to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its reasonable valuation levels, good cash flow from operations and solid stock price performance. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including feeble growth in the company's earnings per share, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 157.57% to $28.25 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, FEDERAL AGRICULTURE MTG CP has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -87.65%.
• Looking at where the stock is today compared to one year ago, we find that it is not only higher, but it has also clearly outperformed the rise in the S&P 500 over the same period, despite the company's weak earnings results. Despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year, there is currently no conclusive evidence that warrants the purchase or sale of this stock.
• FEDERAL AGRICULTURE MTG CP has exprienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. The company has suffered a declining pattern earnings per share over the past two years. During the past fiscal year, FEDERAL AGRICULTURE MTG CP reported lower earnings of $2.07 versus $8.04 in the prior year.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Thrifts & Mortgage Finance industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 432.2% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $6.72 million to -$22.31 million.

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Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation provides agricultural real estate and rural housing mortgage loans in the secondary market in the United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 15.2, below the average financial services industry P/E ratio of 17.3 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Federal Agricultural has a market cap of $175.4 million and is part of the financial sector and financial services industry. Shares are up 18.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full Federal Agricultural Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.
-- Written by a member of TheStreet RatingsStaff

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