Principle Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 1,400 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,177 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADM. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,339,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,138,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,011,000 after purchasing an additional 68,133 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,082,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,163,000 after purchasing an additional 489,217 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,086,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,084,000 after purchasing an additional 489,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marathon Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.5% in the third quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 303,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,110,000 after purchasing an additional 13,177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.8 %

ADM opened at $46.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 5.44. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $45.01 and a fifty-two week high of $66.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.56 and its 200 day moving average is $55.21. The stock has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.72.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ADM shares. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Tuesday. 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.11.

Archer-Daniels-Midland 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.