Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,016 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ADM opened at $50.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.60. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $48.40 and a fifty-two week high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.14%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens assumed coverage on Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $63.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.89.

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.