Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Invests $821,000 in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $821,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADM. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADM has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America decreased 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 research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:ADM opened at $46.51 on Friday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $44.92 and a 52 week high of $66.08. The stock has a market cap of $22.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland 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.