Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Sold by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC cut its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 45.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,411 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,989 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ADM. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $221,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 32.9% during the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 204,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,244,000 after acquiring an additional 50,727 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 0.9% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 114,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

NYSE ADM opened at $49.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.58. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1-year low of $44.92 and a 1-year high of $66.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ADM. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on 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. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.89.

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.