Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 169,475 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,502 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $8,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at $333,521,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,382,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,193 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,152,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,068,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,428 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,473,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,340,000 after purchasing an additional 894,562 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,359,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,150,390,000 after purchasing an additional 706,567 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM stock opened at $43.32 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $47.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.67. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $41.78 and a 12 month high of $66.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $20.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.66.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.63.

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.