State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Reduces Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 173,852 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,052 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $8,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ADM opened at $45.90 on Wednesday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $44.92 and a 52 week high of $66.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.94 and a 200 day moving average of $54.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 5.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.72.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change 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 yield of 4.44%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland 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.