Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ADM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Archer Daniels Midland from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Archer Daniels Midland from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Archer Daniels Midland from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Archer Daniels Midland from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Archer Daniels Midland from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archer Daniels Midland has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.75.

Archer Daniels Midland Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $75.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Archer Daniels Midland has a 12-month low of $55.58 and a 12-month high of $88.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.79 and its 200 day moving average is $76.45.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.35. Archer Daniels Midland had a return on equity of 9.21% and a net margin of 2.16%. The business had revenue of $22.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Archer Daniels Midland’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Archer Daniels Midland will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer Daniels Midland Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Archer Daniels Midland’s payout ratio is 56.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,409,089,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,670,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,350,005,000 after buying an additional 382,460 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,806,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,647,000 after acquiring an additional 163,749 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,432,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,519,000 after acquiring an additional 414,170 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,875,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,678,000 after acquiring an additional 112,980 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Archer Daniels Midland

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) is a global agricultural origination and processing company. Founded in 1902, ADM connects farmers and producers with markets worldwide by sourcing, transporting, storing and processing crops and other agricultural commodities.

The company processes oilseeds, corn, wheat and other crops into ingredients and products used in food and beverages, animal nutrition, renewable fuels and industrial applications. Its offerings include vegetable oils, protein meals, sweeteners, starches, flour, food ingredients, animal feed ingredients and biofuels, as well as specialty ingredients developed through its nutrition businesses.

ADM operates an integrated network of agricultural facilities, processing plants, transportation assets and commercial offices serving customers across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and other international markets.