Principle Wealth Partners LLC Increases Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,177 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.11.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of ADM opened at $46.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.44 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a one year low of $45.01 and a one year high of $66.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.72.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership 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.