Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Bought by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,215,242 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 76,787 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $61,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,430,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,755,000 after buying an additional 5,702,451 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 28.4% in 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 during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,979,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,494 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 52.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,502,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,738,000 after purchasing an additional 514,005 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ADM opened at $46.12 on Tuesday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $44.92 and a 52 week high of $66.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 5.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.73.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. 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 firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.42%. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.40%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ADM shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.11.

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.