ADM addresses takeover rumour

Article Excerpt

ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO. $43 (New York symbol ADM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 587.6 million; Market cap: $25.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www. adm.com) processes corn, wheat, soybeans, canola, flaxseed, peanuts and other crops to make a variety of food ingredients such as flour, oils and sweeteners. It’s also the largest U.S. maker of ethanol from corn. The company recently denied media reports that it was planning to acquire the spreads division of Unilever plc (New York symbol UL). Its operations make margarine and related products under several brands, including Flora, Stork and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. While those businesses are more profitable than Archer’s main grain trading and processing operations, a purchase would cost roughly $8 billion. That’s a third of the company’s market cap. Meanwhile, Archer’s earnings will likely rise from $2.16 a share in 2016 to $2.50 in 2017. The stock trades at 17.2 times that…