Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,244,459 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,020 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.26% of Archer-Daniels-Midland worth $62,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 16,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 4,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 7,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 8.9 %

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $43.32 on Monday. 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 fifty day moving average of $47.51 and a 200 day moving average of $51.67. The company has a market capitalization of $20.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.66. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $42.02 and a fifty-two week high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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. 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. 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 reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.