Xponance Inc. Acquires 15,488 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,768 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,488 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $6,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 14,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 49,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,555,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 60,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,385,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 16,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on ADM shares. Argus cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $98.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Roth Capital downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.50.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $62.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1-year low of $50.72 and a 1-year high of $87.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.67.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $22.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.79 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.25%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.