Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,603 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,502 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $7,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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 report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on 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. Stephens reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $45.96 on Tuesday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a one year low of $44.92 and a one year high of $66.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $22.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’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 company posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.51 dividend. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.