Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,857 shares of the company’s stock after selling 453 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $1,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,045,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,914,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,256 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,430,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,755,000 after purchasing an additional 5,702,451 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,382,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,193 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,979,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,607,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,533,000 after purchasing an additional 63,883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 3.8 %

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $48.30 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.30. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a twelve month low of $44.92 and a twelve month high of $66.08. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.11.

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.