Arizona State Retirement System Has $7.02 Million Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,878 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,776 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $7,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ADM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.89.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM opened at $49.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $48.83 and its 200-day moving average is $53.58. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $44.92 and a fifty-two week 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.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.50 billion for 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 was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.51%.

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.