Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,359,269 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 706,567 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Archer-Daniels-Midland worth $3,150,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ADM. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,730,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,409,000 after purchasing an additional 360,844 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,473,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,340,000 after buying an additional 894,562 shares during the period. Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,217,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth about $614,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 127.7% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 46,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 26,329 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $46.08 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.38. The company has a market capitalization of $22.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a twelve month low of $44.92 and a twelve month high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company 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.