News in brief: Top agriculture companies’ stocks mostly appreciated, but JBS and Syngenta experienced drops. Chemical producers had a strong week, with CF Industries and Mosaic Co. showing notable increases.
Top agriculture companies had a good week as most of their stocks appreciated. Machine and heavy equipment maker, AGCO, saw its share price rise by 6.44% by the end of trading last Friday. However, the company’s value dropped early today, Monday, after one of its major investors, LSV Asset Management, announced a reduction in its stake in the company.
AGCO’s direct competitor, Deere & Company, also reported a 5.29% increase in its stock price over the week.
The Brazil food processor, JBS, saw its shares tank with a 4.13% drop despite the announcement that it was increasing production capacity by reopening a beef processing plant in Mato Grosso. It was not alone as CHS Inc., its counterpart in the United States, also witnessed a slight decrease of less than one percent. However, this marks the third consecutive week that the food company has traded in the red.
Other food processors and commodity traders like Tyson Foods, Godrej Agrovet, Bunge, and Archer-Daniels-Midland Co recorded increases in stock value over the same period. For Godrej Agrovet, its good fortune is likely linked to the news of receiving 47,000 acres of land from the Telangana government to boost its oil palm production business.
Chemical producers also had a spectacular week as their share prices rose over the past week. The American manufacturer and distributor of agricultural fertilisers, CF Industries, saw a rise of 6.49%, which was only surpassed by the 7.11% increase that competitor, Mosaic Co., saw. Syngenta, which is ramping up for an IPO listing in China, lost 6.74% of its value, which shaved off the over 2% it gained from last week.
Corteva recovered from its previous week’s loss and announced an increased quarterly dividend for its shareholders, taking the value from $0.15 to $0.64. Meanwhile, FMC Corporation recorded a slight increase in value over the week. The agric chemical producer signed a memorandum with Ukraine earlier this month to help boost its economic recovery through agriculture. Others in the same industry like DuPont, Intrepid Potash, and Yara International saw the value increase of just over 4% this week.
Overall, it was a good week for agriculture stock owners as the top shares performed well, with only a few big names disappointing.
