Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Sold by Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,819 shares of the company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM opened at $46.21 on Friday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $44.92 and a fifty-two week high of $66.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.69. The company has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. 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 dividend yield of 4.42%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ADM. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.63.

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.