ING Groep NV Invests $4.85 Million in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 95,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,848,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ADM. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 120.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 2,625 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at $288,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at $149,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 30,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ADM. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America cut their price target on 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 cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.11.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 3.8 %

ADM stock opened at $48.30 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 5.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52-week low of $44.92 and a 52-week high of $66.08. The firm has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change 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 56.51%.

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