Wall Street Zen Upgrades Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) to "Hold"

Key Points

• Archer Daniels Midland has been upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, reflecting a more positive outlook for the stock.
• Bank of America has downgraded the stock from "neutral" to "underperform", setting a new price target of $45.00, while UBS Group has raised their target from $55.00 to $60.00 with a "buy" rating.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings showed a net margin of 1.33% and a revenue decrease of 4.9% year-over-year, indicating potential challenges in maintaining profitability.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Archer Daniels Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America lowered shares of Archer Daniels Midland from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays raised shares of Archer Daniels Midland from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $50.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised Archer Daniels Midland from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.71.

Archer Daniels Midland Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of ADM traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $58.78. The stock had a trading volume of 951,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,960,159. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.69. Archer Daniels Midland has a 1-year low of $40.98 and a 1-year high of $62.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.68.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Archer Daniels Midland had a return on equity of 8.43% and a net margin of 1.33%. The firm had revenue of $21.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Archer Daniels Midland will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer Daniels Midland Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Archer Daniels Midland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer Daniels Midland

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ADM. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Archer Daniels Midland by 17.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,944,136 shares of the company's stock worth $1,197,568,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791,597 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,076,118 shares of the company's stock worth $954,058,000 after buying an additional 620,794 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,457,546 shares of the company's stock worth $654,772,000 after buying an additional 283,207 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Archer Daniels Midland by 3.7% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,448,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $549,634,000 after buying an additional 413,314 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Archer Daniels Midland by 8.5% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,753,585 shares of the company's stock worth $372,250,000 after buying an additional 607,767 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company's stock.

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.