Markel Group Inc. Has $74.48 Million Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Markel Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,474,300 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,000 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Archer-Daniels-Midland worth $74,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

ADM stock opened at $50.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.84 and a 200-day moving average of $53.44. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12-month low of $44.92 and a 12-month high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.89.

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.