Short Interest in Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Increases By 22.6%

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 15,774,400 shares, a growth of 22.6% from the February 26th total of 12,870,408 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,931,569 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jennifer L. Weber sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.04, for a total transaction of $1,676,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 123,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,290,702.72. This represents a 16.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Gregory A. Morris sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $3,424,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 300,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,354.56. The trade was a 14.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 109,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,539,602. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer Daniels Midland

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new position in Archer Daniels Midland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Archer Daniels Midland in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 367.0% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer Daniels Midland Trading Down 0.7%

ADM stock traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $71.70. 4,061,555 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,610,041. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Archer Daniels Midland has a fifty-two week low of $40.98 and a fifty-two week high of $74.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.18. The company has a market capitalization of $34.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.68.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released 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. Archer Daniels Midland had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 7.39%. The company had revenue of $18.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Archer Daniels Midland has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-4.250 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Archer Daniels Midland will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer Daniels Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Archer Daniels Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Archer Daniels Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 93.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ADM shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Archer Daniels Midland from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Archer Daniels Midland from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $58.57.

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.