Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Makes New $416,000 Investment in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $61.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $58.64 and a 200-day moving average of $65.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52-week low of $50.72 and a 52-week high of $87.30.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $22.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.79 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 3.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ADM. Stifel Nicolaus cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down previously from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.50.

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.