Skylands Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Skylands Capital LLC raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 46.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,125 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,675 shares during the quarter. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $3,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 78.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 13,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 5,779 shares during the last quarter. Hi Line Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,308,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Sigma Planning Corp raised its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 25,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank raised its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 150,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,627,000 after purchasing an additional 23,036 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $48.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.44 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $44.92 and a 12 month high of $66.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.47 and its 200-day moving average is $54.30.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The business 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 business posted $1.36 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is 56.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ADM. Stephens cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.