AGCO Corporation’s AGCO board of directors recently approved a 7% hike in the quarterly common stock dividend. The revised dividend payout now stands at 15 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on Mar 15, to shareholders of record as of Feb 15.
This translates in to a dividend of 60 cents per share on an annualized basis. Based on the closing price of $74.03 as of Jan 26, the raised dividend translates to a yield of 1.2%.
The dividend hike is in sync with AGCO’s focus on returning value to shareholders. Over the past three years, the company executed share repurchases worth $1 billion. It expects to fund the repurchase programs with operating cash flow.
Further, AGCO intends to increase the level of investment to execute its product development plans, resulting in increased capital expenditure and engineering spend in 2017. It reaffirmed the capital expenditure guidance at $200-$225 million and free cash flow band at $225-$250 million for 2017.
Also, AGCO displays strong financial leverage. Its debt/equity ratio of 40% compares favorably with the industry average of 51.6%, indicating a lower debt burden relative to the industry. The company’s ROE of 26.3% is higher than the industry average of 23.9%. This reflects that it is more efficient in utilizing shareholder funds compared to peers.
The company’s shares have gained 51.7% in the last year compared to 17.4% growth recorded by its industry. The underperformance stemmed from weakness in the agricultural equipment sector.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
AGCO carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A few better-ranked stocks in the same sector are Caterpillar Inc. CAT, H&E Equipment Services HEES and Deere & Company DE. While Caterpillar and H&E Equipment sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Deere carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Caterpillar has a long-term earnings growth rate of 10.3%. Its shares have rallied 46.6% in the past six months.
H&E Equipment has a long-term earnings growth rate of 18.6%. The company’s shares have gained 82.5% during the same time frame.
Deere has a long-term earnings growth rate of 8.2%. The stock has gained 33.7% in six months’ time.
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