Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $14.57 Million Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,804 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,502 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $14,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ADM. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 71.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought 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 during the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 31,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,798,000 after purchasing an additional 5,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 459,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $61.74 on Friday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a one year low of $50.72 and a one 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADM. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $56.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price objective (down from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

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.