Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 990,812 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,577 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.21% of Archer-Daniels-Midland worth $50,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 300.8% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 7,203 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 5,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 848 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,794,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,081,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ADM opened at $45.78 on Friday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $44.92 and a 52 week high of $66.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 5.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $21.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.01.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.