Argyle Capital Management LLC Buys 2,077 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Argyle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,525 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,730,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,409,000 after acquiring an additional 360,844 shares in the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth $2,339,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,138,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,011,000 after purchasing an additional 68,133 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,082,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,163,000 after purchasing an additional 489,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 55,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,813,000 after buying an additional 18,480 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.89.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

ADM opened at $46.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12-month low of $44.92 and a 12-month high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.51%.

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.