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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.89.

ADM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $46.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.72. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 12-month low of $44.92 and a 12-month high of $66.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.83.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase 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 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ADM. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

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.