Top Agriculture Stocks for Q4 2021

The agriculture industry harvests and provides agricultural commodities such as grains, livestock, sugar, soybeans, and more. Other companies in the industry produce fertilizers, packaged foods, and agricultural machinery. Examples of companies involved in agribusiness include Corteva Inc. (CTVA), Canada-based Nutrien Ltd. (NTR), and Tractor Supply Co. (TSCO).

Agriculture stocks, represented by the VanEck Vectors Agribusiness ETF (MOO), have outperformed the broader market over the past year. MOO has provided a total return of 38.9% over the past 12 months, above the Russell 1000's total return of 34.8%, as of Sept. 3, 2021. All statistics in the tables below are also as of Sept. 3.

Here are the top 3 agriculture stocks with the best value, the fastest growth, and the most momentum.

Best Value Agriculture Stocks

These are the agriculture stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Because profits can be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks, a low P/E ratio shows you’re paying less for each dollar of profit generated.

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• Bunge Ltd.: Bunge is a global agribusiness and food company. It supplies and transports agricultural commodities, including sugar ethanol, wheat, and corn. The company also processes oilseeds and grains and sells fertilizers.
• The Mosaic Co.: The Mosaic Co. is a producer and distributor of crop nutrient products. The company provides feed ingredients, concentrated phosphates, potash, and related products to the agricultural industry worldwide. Mosaic reported on Aug. 19 that it would pay a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share of common stock. The dividend will be paid on Sept. 16 to shareholders as of Sept. 2, 2021.
• Adecoagro SA: Adecoagro is an agricultural company headquartered in Luxembourg with operations primarily throughout South America. It engages in a broad range of businesses, including farming, cattle and dairy operations, sugar, ethanol and energy production.

Fastest Growing Agriculture Stocks

These are the top agriculture stocks as ranked by a growth model that scores companies based on a 50/50 weighting of their most recent quarterly YOY percentage revenue growth and their most recent quarterly YOY earnings-per-share (EPS) growth. Both sales and earnings are critical factors in the success of a company. Therefore ranking companies by only one growth metric makes a ranking susceptible to the accounting anomalies of that quarter (such as changes in tax law or restructuring costs) that may make one or the other figure unrepresentative of the business in general. Companies with quarterly EPS or revenue growth of over 2,500% were excluded as outliers.

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• The Mosaic Co.: See company description above.
• Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.: Fresh Del Monte Produce produces bananas, pineapples, melons, and other fresh produce and non-produce items. It markets its products under the Del Monte brand and other brands, including Rosy, Fruit Express, Fruitini, and more. For Q2 2021, the company reported a 39.8% YOY increase in gross profit as net income attributable to Fresh Del Monte Produce more than doubled. The results were driven by strong performances in its pineapple, fresh-cut fruit, and prepared food products categories.
• Deere & Co.: Deere & Co. makes and sells equipment for the agricultural, construction, forestry, commercial, and consumer markets. It also supplies replacement parts for its products as well as for equipment made by other manufacturers. The company announced on Aug. 25 that it would pay a quarterly dividend of $1.05 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable Nov. 8 to shareholders as of Sept. 30, 2021. The dividend payment represents an increase of roughly 17% compared with the company's most recent dividend.

Agriculture Stocks with the Most Momentum

These are the agriculture stocks that had the highest total return over the last 12 months.

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• Intrepid Potash Inc.: Intrepid Potash mines and sells potash for use in fertilizer products. The company operates three solar solution potash facilities and one conventional underground mine, all in the western U.S. On Aug. 2, the company announced the promotion of chief operating officer (COO) Brian Stone to president of Intrepid, effective on the same day.
• ICL Group Ltd.: ICL Group is an Israel-based manufacturer of fertilizers and specialty agricultural chemicals. The company sells its products to customers in the agriculture, food, and engineered materials industries in Asia.
• Deere & Co.: See company description above.