Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Stephens lowered their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $52.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.02, but opened at $48.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland shares last traded at $48.54, with a volume of 1,086,774 shares trading hands.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on ADM. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Bank of America lowered shares of 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.81.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 2.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.72 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. 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 yield of 4.22%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.14%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.