Candriam S.C.A. Has $2.34 Million Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 41.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,210 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,466 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $2,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADM. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,430,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,160,755,000 after purchasing an additional 5,702,451 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,382,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,193 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,045,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,914,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,256 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,979,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,502,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,738,000 after purchasing an additional 514,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $49.46 on Monday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $44.92 and a 52 week high of $66.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ADM shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.89.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Profile

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company engages in the procurement, transportation, storage, processing, and merchandising of agricultural commodities, ingredients, flavors, and solutions in the United States, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition.