Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Short Interest Down 17.1% in March

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 13,081,635 shares, a drop of 17.1% from the March 15th total of 15,774,400 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,082,580 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Archer Daniels Midland from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research raised Archer Daniels Midland from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Archer Daniels Midland from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Archer Daniels Midland from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Archer Daniels Midland has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.86.

Archer Daniels Midland Price Performance

Archer Daniels Midland stock traded up $1.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $68.62. 3,032,208 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,921,617. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.03. Archer Daniels Midland has a 12 month low of $46.41 and a 12 month high of $74.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $33.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.65.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.07. Archer Daniels Midland had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 1.34%.The firm had revenue of $18.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Archer Daniels Midland has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-4.250 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Archer Daniels Midland will post 4.31 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a boost from Archer Daniels Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Archer Daniels Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 93.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer L. Weber sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were 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 $8,290,702.72. The trade was a 16.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.90 per share, with a total value of $486,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $486,750. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 109,106 shares of company stock worth $7,539,602. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer Daniels Midland

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ADM. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 40,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 11,715 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 83,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 191,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,116,000 after purchasing an additional 54,746 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust co bought a new position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland in the 2nd quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 223,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,785,000 after purchasing an additional 5,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer Daniels Midland Company Profile

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.