Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 167,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,464,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on ADM shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

NYSE:ADM opened at $43.01 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.66. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $42.35 and a 12 month high of $66.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Archer-Daniels-Midland

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.