ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO. $43 - New York symbol ADM

ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO. $43 (New York symbol ADM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 659.0 million; Market cap: $28.3 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 0.3; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.adm.com) has been forced to drop its offer to buy the 80.2% of GrainCorp, a leading Australian grain-storage and shipping company, that it does not already own.

That’s because Australian foreign investment regulators have blocked a full takeover. However, they could let Archer Daniels increase its GrainCorp stake to 24.9%. That would still let it profit as Australia ships more crops to Asia.

Meanwhile, the company is using the $3.0 billion it would have spent on this purchase to raise its quarterly dividend by 26.3%, to $0.24 a share from $0.19. The new annual rate of $0.96 yields 2.2%. It also plans to buy back 3% of its shares in 2014.

Archer Daniels Midland is a buy.

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.