Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.63.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised 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 lowered their price objective on 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. 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 note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $47.97 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.94. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 1 year low of $44.92 and a 1 year 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

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

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.