Flputnam Investment Management Co. Acquires Shares of 4,596 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ADM. StockNews.com lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Roth Capital cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 target price (down previously from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $61.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.75. The company has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.77. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $50.72 and a 52 week high of $87.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.07). Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 3.71%. The business had revenue of $22.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 31.25%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.