Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Stock Holdings Lowered by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 173,662 shares of the company’s stock after selling 691 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $8,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter worth approximately $224,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,092,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,236,000 after acquiring an additional 46,901 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $176,000. Skylands Capital LLC increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 78,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after buying an additional 24,675 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 78.2% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 13,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 5,779 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on ADM shares. 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. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.89.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

NYSE ADM opened at $48.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.16. The company has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.72. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1 year low of $44.92 and a 1 year high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. 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 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.