Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) Sets New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $49.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Archer-Daniels-Midland traded as low as $47.46 and last traded at $47.54, with a volume of 7218877 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.02.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on ADM. Citigroup lifted their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADM. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,138,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,011,000 after acquiring an additional 68,133 shares in the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,339,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,082,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,163,000 after buying an additional 489,217 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,086,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,084,000 after buying an additional 489,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marathon Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.5% during the third quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 303,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,110,000 after acquiring an additional 13,177 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 2.2 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.69. The stock has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27 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.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.