Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Bought by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,537 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $3,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ADM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $525,111,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,641,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,737,000 after purchasing an additional 2,547,232 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 1st quarter valued at $105,741,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,364,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,369,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,810 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,935,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,815,000 after buying an additional 1,245,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on ADM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $98.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $62.81. 4,120,593 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,835,845. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.43. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a twelve month low of $50.72 and a twelve month high of $87.30. The firm has a market cap of $32.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $22.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.79 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 3.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.25%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy 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 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.