American National Bank Grows Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

American National Bank boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 178.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,450 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. American National Bank’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $91,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the first quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 83.7% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 29,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 13,626 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 93,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,896,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Stolper Co bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,075,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,389,000. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Archer-Daniels-Midland news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 6,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.73, for a total transaction of $419,279.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $519,545.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 22,409,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,379,936. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.96 and a 200-day moving average of $61.95. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $50.72 and a 12 month high of $87.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $30.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 0.75.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm had revenue of $21.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADM. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.50.

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.