The Chart of the Day belongs to the financial services company Federal Agricultural Mortgage (AGM), states Jim Van Meerten of BarChart.com.

I found the stock by using Barchart's powerful screening functions to find stocks with the highest technical buy signals, highest Weighted Alpha, superior current momentum, and having a Trend Seeker buy signal then used the Flipchart feature to review the charts for consistent price appreciation. Since the Trend Seeker signaled a buy on 1/11 the stock gained 17.87%.

Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation provides a secondary market for various loans made to borrowers in the United States. It operates through Corporate AgFinance, Farm & Ranch, Rural Utilities, and Renewable Energy segments. The company's Agricultural Finance line of the business engages in purchasing and retaining eligible loans and securities; guaranteeing the payment of principal and interest on securities that represent interests in or obligations secured by pools of eligible loans; servicing eligible loans; and issuing LTSPCs for eligible loans. Its Rural Infrastructure Finance line of business is involved in the purchase of rural utility loans and renewable energy loans and guarantees of securities backed by loans, as well as LTSPCs for pools of eligible rural utilities loans; by loans for electric or telecommunications facilities by lenders organized as cooperatives to borrowers; and other financial institutions that are secured by pools of eligible loans. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.

Barchart's Opinion Trading systems are listed below. Please note that the Barchart Opinion indicators are updated live during the session every 20 minutes and can therefore change during the day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com website when you read this report.

Barchart Technical Indicators

  • 100% technical buy signals
  • 37.04+Weighted Alpha
  • 24.31% gain in the last year
  • Trend Seeker buy signal
  • Above its 20, 50, and 100-day moving averages
  • 12 new highs and up 9.44% in the last month
  • Relative Strength Index 71.53%
  • Recently traded at $143.07 with a 50-day moving average of $127.46

Fundamental Factors

  • Market Cap $1.53 billion
  • P/E 12.36
  • Dividend yield 2.68%
  • Revenue is projected to grow by 6.80% next year
  • Earnings are estimated to increase 5.90% this year, an additional 8.00% next year, and continue to compound at an annual rate of 11.00% for the next five years

Analysts and Investor Sentiment

I don't buy stocks because everyone else is buying but I do realize that if major firms and investors are dumping a stock it's hard to make money swimming against the tide:
  • Wall Street analysts issued two strong buy opinions on the stock
  • Their price targets are $139 to $172 with a consensus of $171 which is 17.87% above its recent close
  • The individual investors following the stock on Motley Fool voted 64 to 18 for the stock to beat the market with the more experienced investors voting 11 to three for the same result
  • Value Line gives the stock an above-average two rating
  • CFRAs MarketScope recommends a Buy
  • 3,840 investors monitor the stock on Seeking Alpha

Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option, or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned but may initiate a beneficial Long position through a purchase of the stock, or the purchase of call options or similar derivatives in the next 72 hours.

Additional Disclosure: The Barchart Chart of the Day highlights stocks that are experiencing exceptional current price appreciation. They are not intended to buy recommendations as these stocks are extremely volatile and speculative. Should you decide to add one of these stocks to your investment portfolio it is highly suggested you follow a predetermined diversification and moving stop loss discipline that is consistent with your personal investment risk tolerance and reevaluate your stop losses at least on a weekly basis.

Learn more about Jim Van Meerten at BarChart.com.