Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Short Interest Update

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,360,000 shares, a decline of 13.3% from the January 15th total of 10,800,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.12. 3,382,066 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,699,266. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.06 and its 200-day moving average is $54.78. The company has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.72. 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 has a 1-year low of $44.92 and a 1-year high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADM. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.