AIA Group Ltd Acquires 1,814 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,999 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $1,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 12,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 37.0% during the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Plancorp LLC grew its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 5.2% during the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 3,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.0% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $62.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $58.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12-month low of $50.72 and a 12-month high of $87.30.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released 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). Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 3.71%. The firm had revenue of $22.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is currently 31.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADM. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. TheStreet cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Roth Capital cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.