Short Interest in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Expands By 9.1%

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,290,000 shares, an increase of 9.1% from the March 15th total of 7,600,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ADM. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 71.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 7,821 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the first quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the first quarter worth approximately $226,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 31,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,798,000 after buying an additional 5,586 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 459,907 shares of the company's stock worth $41,512,000 after buying an additional 9,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company's stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM stock traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $60.52. The stock had a trading volume of 3,128,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,214,657. The company has a market cap of $30.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 12-month low of $50.72 and a 12-month high of $87.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.92.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $22.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.79 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business's revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Archer-Daniels-Midland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.25%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign 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.