SNS Financial Group LLC Trims Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

SNS Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,778 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,566 shares during the quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 46,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 16,456 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 55,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after acquiring an additional 18,480 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 23,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 9,144 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 223,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,215,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,394,000 after acquiring an additional 76,787 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ADM. Citigroup lifted their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.11.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $46.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.44 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $49.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1 year low of $44.92 and a 1 year high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change 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 4.43%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is currently 55.40%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board 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.