Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.50.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Argus cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $61.58 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.43. The firm has a market cap of $30.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.78. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 1 year low of $50.72 and a 1 year high of $87.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $21.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.26 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter worth about $420,457,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,641,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,737,000 after buying an additional 2,547,232 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,325,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,106,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,284 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 27,778.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,009,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005,577 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 99.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,510,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,848,000 after acquiring an additional 754,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

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.