Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,715 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,280 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $4,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ADM. Argus downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $62.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.61. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $50.72 and a 52 week high of $87.30. 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 (NYSE:ADM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $22.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.79 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm 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 positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.25%.

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

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.