Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Sells 450 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT cut its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,114 shares of the company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $48.30 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 5.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a twelve month low of $44.92 and a twelve month high of $66.08. The stock has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.47 and its 200 day moving average is $54.30.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ADM shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.11.

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.