Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,490,000 shares, an increase of 22.8% from the January 31st total of 9,360,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 26.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth $1,217,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at $8,677,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at $2,339,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,138,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,011,000 after acquiring an additional 68,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on 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. Barclays cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.89.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ADM traded down $0.00 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.82. 3,265,538 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,452,727. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.74. The firm has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.39. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 52-week low of $44.92 and a 52-week high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.