Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Acquires 9,144 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM - Free Report) by 64.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,301 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,144 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ADM. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 360,844 shares during the period. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,339,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,138,455 shares of the company's stock worth $68,011,000 after purchasing an additional 68,133 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,082,442 shares of the company's stock worth $105,163,000 after purchasing an additional 489,217 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,086,446 shares of the company's stock worth $483,084,000 after purchasing an additional 489,554 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ADM. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Bank of America decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.11.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM traded up $1.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $48.30. The stock had a trading volume of 5,484,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,658,133. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $44.92 and a 12 month high of $66.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 5.44. The company's 50-day moving average is $49.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.42.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. Archer-Daniels-Midland's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. Research analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.