Strs Ohio Raises Stock Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 250,044 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $18,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 7,821 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 1st quarter valued at $277,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the first quarter worth $226,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 22.0% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 31,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,798,000 after buying an additional 5,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.1% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 459,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,512,000 after buying an additional 9,327 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

ADM opened at $60.26 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $57.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.81. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1 year low of $50.72 and a 1 year high of $87.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.77.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $22.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.79 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.25%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.50.

Archer-Daniels-Midland 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.