Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 55,040 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,921 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55,040 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $7,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:ADM opened at $47.01 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.01 and a 200 day moving average of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $44.92 and a 52 week high of $66.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens decreased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.63.

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.