ING Groep NV Buys New Shares in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 95,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,848,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $48.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 5.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.35. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52-week low of $44.92 and a 52-week high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ADM shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens reduced their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays cut their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.11.

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.