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

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) was the target 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. Based on an average daily volume of 3,931,569 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ADM. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Archer Daniels Midland from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Archer Daniels Midland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded Archer Daniels Midland from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Archer Daniels Midland from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $58.57.

Archer Daniels Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $71.70. 4,061,555 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,610,041. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Archer Daniels Midland has a 52-week low of $40.98 and a 52-week high of $74.19. The company has a market cap of $34.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.18.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $18.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.03 billion. Archer Daniels Midland had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 1.34%.Archer Daniels Midland’s revenue was down 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Archer Daniels Midland has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-4.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is an increase from Archer Daniels Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Archer Daniels Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 93.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Gregory A. Morris sold 50,000 shares of Archer Daniels Midland stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 300,122 shares in the company, valued at $20,552,354.56. The trade was a 14.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David R. Mcatee II acquired 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.90 per share, with a total value of $486,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $486,750. This represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 109,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,539,602 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 40.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 40,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after buying an additional 11,715 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Archer Daniels Midland by 42.0% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,266,000 after acquiring an additional 12,709 shares during the period. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in Archer Daniels Midland by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 11,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Archer Daniels Midland by 60.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 22,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 8,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.