Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Analysts

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" by the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.50.

A number of research firms have issued reports on ADM. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $96.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,325,806 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,106,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,284 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,303,791 shares of the company's stock worth $1,003,372,000 after purchasing an additional 252,486 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,641,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $651,737,000 after buying an additional 2,547,232 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,488,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $468,591,000 after buying an additional 217,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $420,457,000. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

ADM traded up $0.44 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.03. 4,022,624 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,773,188. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 12-month low of $50.72 and a 12-month high of $87.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $30.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.78.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $21.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.26 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 13.87%. Archer-Daniels-Midland's revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Archer-Daniels-Midland's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.09%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.