Vest Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 28.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,004,578 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 222,150 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.21% of Archer-Daniels-Midland worth $50,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.33.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $45.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.55. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a twelve month low of $45.01 and a twelve month high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 10.96%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

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.