Wealth Alliance Raises Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Wealth Alliance boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,669 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 258 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 12,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Plancorp LLC lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 3,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 607 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $60.42 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.77. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a one year low of $50.72 and a one year high of $87.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 0.77.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.07). Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $22.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 31.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ADM shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $96.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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. Barclays cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Argus cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

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.