Merit Financial Group LLC Has $227,000 Stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,145 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.3% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 13,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 7.2% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 56,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,151,000 after buying an additional 3,754 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 5.1% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 22,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,697,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.0% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter worth about $217,000. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Argus downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. TheStreet lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Roth Capital cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.50.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.7 %

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $62.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $30.87 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.78. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.72 and a fifty-two week high of $87.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.41.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.09%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.