Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Short Interest Up 13.0% in December

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,250,000 shares, an increase of 13.0% from the December 15th total of 9,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 22,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 2,701 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 7,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Uncommon Cents Investing LLC lifted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 91,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,644,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:ADM opened at $51.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a one year low of $48.40 and a one year high of $68.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.84. The company has a market cap of $24.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.72.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.08.

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.