Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 364.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 210,888 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 165,438 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $10,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ADM. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,430,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,755,000 after buying an additional 5,702,451 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,382,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,193 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,045,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,914,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,256 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,979,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 52.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,502,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,738,000 after purchasing an additional 514,005 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE ADM opened at $45.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.72. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $45.01 and a 12 month high of $66.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.38. The company has a current ratio of 5.44, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ADM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $63.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.33.

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.