Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ADM. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,730,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,409,000 after acquiring an additional 360,844 shares in the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,339,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,138,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,011,000 after acquiring an additional 68,133 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,082,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,163,000 after acquiring an additional 489,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,086,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $483,084,000 after acquiring an additional 489,554 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company's stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 1.1 %

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $46.55. 2,703,725 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,602,772. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 5.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $49.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.47. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a twelve month low of $44.92 and a twelve month high of $66.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion during 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 business's revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. Archer-Daniels-Midland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.51%.

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.