Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 18,480 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 49.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,680 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,480 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $2,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM opened at $46.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.44 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.55 and its 200-day moving average is $54.42. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $44.92 and a fifty-two week high of $66.08.

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 the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ADM. Bank of America reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut 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 research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.11.

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.