Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP Invests $2.24 Million in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 44,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,237,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADM. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM stock opened at $48.32 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $47.96 and its 200-day moving average is $52.32. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1 year low of $44.92 and a 1 year high of $66.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ADM. Bank of America reduced 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stephens cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.63.

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.