Rafferty Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,594 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $2,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 16,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 4,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 7,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 21,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.4%

ADM stock opened at $50.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $40.98 and a 12 month high of $66.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.25.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $20.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.05 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 72.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group raised shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

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.