Norges Bank Invests $333.52 Million in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,601,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,521,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.38% of Archer-Daniels-Midland as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

NYSE ADM opened at $47.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $44.92 and a 12 month high of $66.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $47.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 research note on Tuesday, February 11th. 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. Citigroup raised 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.63.

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.