Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Archer Daniels Midland hit a new 52-week high of $77.37 on Tuesday, with shares last trading near $76.36 on roughly 4.94 million shares exchanged.
• Analysts are mixed: the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average target price of $63.86, though firms like Jefferies and Zacks recently raised their outlooks while others remain cautious.
• ADM beat EPS expectations ($0.87 vs. $0.80) but reported a 13.7% year-over-year revenue decline, and insider activity included a director buying 7,500 shares while other insiders sold material positions.

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $77.37 and last traded at $76.3550, with a volume of 4941509 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Archer Daniels Midland from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Archer Daniels Midland from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Archer Daniels Midland from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.86.

Archer Daniels Midland Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $36.79 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $18.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.03 billion. Archer Daniels Midland had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 1.34%.Archer Daniels Midland's quarterly revenue was down 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Archer Daniels Midland Company will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Archer Daniels Midland news, Director David R. Mcatee II acquired 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.90 per share, for a total transaction of $486,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $486,750. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ian R. Pinner sold 34,106 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.53, for a total value of $2,439,602.18. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 90,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,486,054.28. This trade represents a 27.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 109,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,539,602. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer Daniels Midland

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Archer Daniels Midland by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,180,117 shares of the company's stock worth $3,402,265,000 after buying an additional 536,265 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Archer Daniels Midland by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,829,140 shares of the company's stock worth $1,082,487,000 after buying an additional 449,815 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Archer Daniels Midland by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 17,084,645 shares of the company's stock worth $982,196,000 after buying an additional 2,016,101 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,628,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $723,175,000 after purchasing an additional 109,556 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,431,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $657,209,000 after purchasing an additional 612,974 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company's stock.

About Archer Daniels Midland

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) is a global agricultural processor and food-ingredient provider that sources, transports and processes oilseeds, corn, wheat and other agricultural commodities. The company operates large-scale crushing, refining and processing facilities that produce vegetable oils, protein meals, corn sweeteners, starches, ethanol, animal feeds and a wide range of food and industrial ingredients. ADM also develops specialty ingredients and solutions for human and animal nutrition, food and beverage formulation, and industrial applications such as bio-based materials and renewable fuels.

ADM's business combines commodity origination and merchandising with downstream manufacturing and ingredient formulation.

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