Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $73.83 and last traded at $73.0460, with a volume of 586282 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Archer Daniels Midland from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered Archer Daniels Midland from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Archer Daniels Midland from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Archer Daniels Midland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $58.57.

Archer Daniels Midland Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $35.41 billion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $18.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.03 billion. Archer Daniels Midland had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 1.34%.The business’s revenue was down 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Archer Daniels Midland has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-4.250 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Archer Daniels Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer Daniels Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Archer Daniels Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Archer Daniels Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 93.69%.

Insider Activity at Archer Daniels Midland

In other news, SVP Gregory A. Morris sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $3,424,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 300,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,354.56. This represents a 14.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David R. Mcatee II acquired 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.90 per share, for a total transaction of $486,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 7,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $486,750. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 109,106 shares of company stock worth $7,539,602. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Archer Daniels Midland

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,180,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,402,265,000 after buying an additional 536,265 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Archer Daniels Midland by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,617,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,827,107,000 after acquiring an additional 223,716 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Archer Daniels Midland by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,829,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,082,487,000 after acquiring an additional 449,815 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in Archer Daniels Midland by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 17,084,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,196,000 after acquiring an additional 2,016,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,628,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $723,175,000 after purchasing an additional 109,556 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Archer Daniels Midland

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) is a global agricultural processor and food-ingredient provider that sources, transports and processes oilseeds, corn, wheat and other agricultural commodities. The company operates large-scale crushing, refining and processing facilities that produce vegetable oils, protein meals, corn sweeteners, starches, ethanol, animal feeds and a wide range of food and industrial ingredients. ADM also develops specialty ingredients and solutions for human and animal nutrition, food and beverage formulation, and industrial applications such as bio-based materials and renewable fuels.

ADM’s business combines commodity origination and merchandising with downstream manufacturing and ingredient formulation.