Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 84.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,250 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,730,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,409,000 after buying an additional 360,844 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,473,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,340,000 after acquiring an additional 894,562 shares in the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter worth $1,217,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth $614,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 127.7% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 46,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 26,329 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $47.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a one year low of $44.92 and a one year high of $66.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $47.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.91. The company has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.66.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

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.