Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Short Interest Down 6.2% in June

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) saw a large decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,420,000 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the May 31st total of 12,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ADM shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 6,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.73, for a total value of $419,279.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $519,545.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Archer-Daniels-Midland

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.8 %

ADM stock opened at $62.65 on Thursday. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a one year low of $50.72 and a one year high of $87.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.92 and a 200-day moving average of $61.01.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The company had revenue of $21.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.09%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company 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.