Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Stephens lowered their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $52.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.02, but opened at $48.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland shares last traded at $48.54, with a volume of 1,086,774 shares.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on 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 raised their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,138,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,011,000 after buying an additional 68,133 shares during the period. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,339,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,082,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,163,000 after purchasing an additional 489,217 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,086,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,084,000 after purchasing an additional 489,554 shares during the period. Finally, Marathon Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 303,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,110,000 after purchasing an additional 13,177 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Down 5.0 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.72.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.07% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.