Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,688 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $1,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth $28,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Emfo LLC purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ADM stock traded up $0.30 on Wednesday, reaching $61.89. 1,101,410 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,739,200. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.60 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.11. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm had revenue of $21.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.09%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Roth Capital downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.