Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,250,000 shares, a growth of 13.0% from the December 31st total of 9,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,970,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens initiated coverage on Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.89.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

ADM stock traded down $1.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $50.01. The company had a trading volume of 4,485,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,136,781. The company has a market capitalization of $23.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.72. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 12-month low of $48.40 and a 12-month high of $66.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.91.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADM. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.