Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised the price target for Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) from $47.00 to $57.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock, which indicates a potential downside of 2.26% from its current price.
• Multiple analysts have recently revised their ratings and price targets for ADM, with Bank of America downgrading it to "underperform" while UBS upgraded it to a "buy" with a price objective of $70.00.
• Archer Daniels Midland reported a $0.93 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a 4.9% decrease in quarterly revenue compared to last year.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM - Free Report) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on ADM. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up previously from $60.00) on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a research report on Monday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Archer Daniels Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Archer Daniels Midland from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Bank of America cut Archer Daniels Midland from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Archer Daniels Midland from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archer Daniels Midland presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.71.

Archer Daniels Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $59.70. 2,935,652 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,230,437. The stock's fifty day moving average is $54.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.87. Archer Daniels Midland has a fifty-two week low of $40.98 and a fifty-two week high of $62.61. The company has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

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

Archer Daniels Midland Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Archer Daniels Midland's dividend payout ratio is presently 89.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer Daniels Midland

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADM. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 350.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,455,324 shares of the company's stock worth $838,030,000 after purchasing an additional 13,579,379 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in Archer Daniels Midland during the 2nd quarter worth $345,689,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Archer Daniels Midland during the 2nd quarter worth $340,247,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Archer Daniels Midland by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,944,136 shares of the company's stock worth $1,197,568,000 after buying an additional 3,791,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland during the 1st quarter valued at $81,306,000. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.