Swedbank AB Raises Stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 394,281 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,318 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $19,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 152.6% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 517,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,137,000 after acquiring an additional 312,566 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,382,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,193 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,591 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ADM. Citigroup raised 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. Bank of America cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Stephens assumed coverage on Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.89.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 0.9 %

ADM opened at $51.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.46 and a 200-day moving average of $56.12. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $48.40 and a 52 week 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.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

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.