Bell Bank Grows Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Bell Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 150,978 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,036 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $7,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,045,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,914,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,256 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,430,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,755,000 after purchasing an additional 5,702,451 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,382,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,193 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,979,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,494 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,607,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,533,000 after buying an additional 63,883 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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, February 11th. Citigroup lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.11.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of ADM opened at $48.30 on Friday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12-month low of $44.92 and a 12-month high of $66.08. The stock has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 5.44, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.35.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Archer-Daniels-Midland

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.