Ag Growth International (TSE:AFN) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Ag Growth International Inc. (TSE:AFN) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after Desjardins lowered their price target on the stock from C$25.00 to C$20.00. Desjardins currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ag Growth International traded as low as C$13.49 and last traded at C$13.87, with a volume of 539360 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$14.32.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AFN. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on shares of Ag Growth International from C$19.00 to C$23.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD raised their target price on Ag Growth International from C$22.00 to C$30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. National Bank Financial cut their target price on Ag Growth International from C$20.00 to C$19.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut their target price on Ag Growth International from C$25.00 to C$18.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Ag Growth International from C$30.00 to C$20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$23.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ag Growth International news, Director Rohit Bhardwaj acquired 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$24.00 per share, with a total value of C$204,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$684,000. The trade was a 42.50% increase in their position. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Ag Growth International News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ag Growth International this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Despite reducing its target to C$20 from C$30, RBC retained an “outperform” rating. The revised target still implies considerable potential upside from recent levels. Ticker Report analyst rating
• Positive Sentiment: Desjardins lowered its target to C$20 from C$25 but maintained a “buy” rating, suggesting the firm views the recent weakness as an opportunity if the company’s performance improves. BayStreet.CA analyst ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: National Bank Financial cut its target to C$19 from C$20 and kept a “sector perform” rating, while ATB Cormark reduced its target to C$18 from C$25 and also rated the shares “sector perform.” These ratings indicate expectations for performance broadly in line with the sector. BayStreet.CA analyst ratings
• Negative Sentiment: The widespread target cuts point to lower near-term expectations across the analyst community, even though the revised targets remain above the current share price.
• Negative Sentiment: Ag Growth reported a quarterly loss of C$2.06 per share on revenue of C$323.18 million. Its negative 3.80% net margin and 20.06% negative return on equity reinforce concerns about profitability and financial performance. Ag Growth International quarterly earnings report

Ag Growth International Stock Down 6.2%

The firm has a market cap of C$253.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.16, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$20.33 and a 200 day moving average of C$23.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 541.43.

Ag Growth International (TSE:AFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported C($2.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$323.18 million during the quarter. Ag Growth International had a negative net margin of 8.43% and a negative return on equity of 48.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ag Growth International Inc. will post 6.5761006 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ag Growth International

Ag Growth International Inc manufactures portable and stationary grain handling, storage, and conditioning equipment, including augers, belt conveyors, grain storage bins, grain handling accessories, grain aeration equipment, and grain drying systems. The company operates mainly in Portable handling, permanent handling, storage and conditioning, livestock, and manufacturing sectors. Some of its brands are batco, wheatheart, westfield, storm, rem, hi roller, union iron, hsi, tramco, ptm, vis, nuvision, twister, grain guard, airlanco, westeel, frame, and entringer.