Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and fourteen have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.50.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ADM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $60.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.52. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 1 year low of $50.72 and a 1 year high of $87.30.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 3.32%. The business had revenue of $21.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 6,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.73, for a total transaction of $419,279.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $519,545.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ADM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,826,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,260,165,000 after purchasing an additional 7,320,289 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at $420,457,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,641,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,737,000 after buying an additional 2,547,232 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 141.6% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,991,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,885,000 after buying an additional 1,753,077 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,325,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,106,830,000 after buying an additional 1,532,284 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.