Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Adecoagro S.A. (NYSE:AGRO) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,130,000 shares, a drop of 8.1% from the December 15th total of 1,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 599,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Adecoagro in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Adecoagro has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.63.

Adecoagro Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Adecoagro stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.66. 614,906 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 429,238. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 6.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.31 and a 200-day moving average of $10.60. Adecoagro has a 12 month low of $8.72 and a 12 month high of $12.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 2.40.

Adecoagro Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.174 per share. This is a positive change from Adecoagro’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.9%. Adecoagro’s payout ratio is presently 23.33%.

Institutional Trading of Adecoagro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Helikon Investments Ltd grew its position in shares of Adecoagro by 169.2% in the 3rd quarter. Helikon Investments Ltd now owns 6,941,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,846,000 after buying an additional 4,363,628 shares during the period. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT increased its stake in shares of Adecoagro by 39.1% during the second quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT now owns 2,376,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,124,000 after purchasing an additional 667,878 shares in the last quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Adecoagro by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. Herr Investment Group LLC now owns 2,649,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,780,000 after purchasing an additional 616,345 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Adecoagro by 111.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 500,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,536,000 after buying an additional 263,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Adecoagro by 14,282.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 156,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,735,000 after acquiring an additional 155,681 shares during the last quarter. 45.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Adecoagro

Adecoagro SA operates as an agro-industrial company in South America. The company mainly operates through three segments: Farming; Sugar, Ethanol and Energy; and Land Transformation. It engages in farming crops, rice and other agricultural products, dairy operations, and land transformation activities, as well as sugar, ethanol, and energy production activities.