Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Short Interest Up 13.0% in December

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,250,000 shares, a growth of 13.0% from the December 15th total of 9,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ADM stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.23. 3,234,014 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,508,151. The company has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.72. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 52 week low of $48.40 and a 52 week high of $68.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ADM. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 15,790.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,596,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,549,083 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,430,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,160,755,000 after buying an additional 5,702,451 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 73.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,830,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,960,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,992 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,045,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,914,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,979,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007,494 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $63.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.08.

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.