HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,203 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,291 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $4,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 20,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,574 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 1,474,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,482,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 16,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $818,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth $1,202,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $46.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a one year low of $44.92 and a one year high of $66.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has authorized 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.63.

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.