Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Short Interest Up 19.6% in August

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,170,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the August 15th total of 7,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Archer-Daniels-Midland

In other Archer-Daniels-Midland news, CEO Juan R. Luciano sold 170,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.51, for a total value of $10,298,438.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 265,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,047,857.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Juan R. Luciano sold 170,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.51, for a total transaction of $10,298,438.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 265,210 shares in the company, valued at $16,047,857.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Juan R. Luciano sold 3,683 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $224,663.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 265,210 shares in the company, valued at $16,177,810. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 219,348 shares of company stock worth $13,296,833. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Archer-Daniels-Midland

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on ADM shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.62.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

NYSE:ADM traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,836,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,532,915. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a fifty-two week low of $50.72 and a fifty-two week high of $80.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $29.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.92 and its 200-day moving average is $60.86.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.19). Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $22.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

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.