Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 15,020 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,244,459 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,020 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $62,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ADM. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,730,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,409,000 after acquiring an additional 360,844 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,473,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,340,000 after purchasing an additional 894,562 shares during the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth $1,217,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth $614,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 127.7% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 46,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 26,329 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

ADM opened at $43.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12-month low of $42.02 and a 12-month high of $66.08. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.67.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted 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 net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research 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 of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.71%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ADM shares. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on 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. Bank of America cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland 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.