Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) Sets New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $49.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Archer-Daniels-Midland traded as low as $47.46 and last traded at $47.54, with a volume of 7218877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.02.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Stephens decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,138,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,011,000 after acquiring an additional 68,133 shares during the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,339,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,082,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,163,000 after acquiring an additional 489,217 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,086,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,084,000 after acquiring an additional 489,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marathon Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 303,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,110,000 after acquiring an additional 13,177 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Down 2.1 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.08 and a 200-day moving average of $55.62. The stock has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 2.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.14%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.