What is Cargill’s stock price, and are they publicly traded? Investors cannot purchase shares of Cargill because they are a private company. Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) and Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) are two of Cargill’s competitors that investors and purchase.
Forbes ranks Cargill as America’s #1 privately-owned company, with revenues of $113.5 billion! Cargill is a behemoth! With impressive revenue records year over year, investors are eager to get a piece of this company’s stock price.
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Table of Contents
Cargill Introduction (No Stock Symbol)
At the end of the American Civil War, William Wallace Cargill founded Cargill in 1865. The company has grown immensely from its humble beginnings as a grain storage facility. They are now one of the world’s top producers and distributors of agricultural products, not to mention sugar, refined oil, chocolate, and turkey. And, of course, Cargill also provides risk management, commodities trading, and transportation services—just not Cargill stock. However, to learn more about stock trading, click here.
Headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Cargill employs more than 160,000 people in 125 countries.
For those number junkies out there, here’s a little-known fact. For the past 28 years, Cargill has consistently ranked among the top private companies on Forbes’ list. That’d probably make for a great Cargill stock investment. But we’re out of luck. Instead, if you want trading ideas, check out our stock alerts.
The Cargill Purpose
With a purpose to “nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way,” Cargill has their hands full, as this is no small feat.
To do so, they combine experience with technological innovations to serve their consumers globally.
Cargill specializes in what it does best: large-scale commodity trading, storage, transport, and wholesale manufacturing of food and agricultural products.
Interesting Facts About Cargill
- Cargill is the largest private company in the United States.
- Net revenue in 2019 was $113.5 billion.
- The company has four primary operating divisions,
- Cargill’s top five companies are Cargill Cotton, Cargill Ocean Transportation, Cocoa & Chocolate, Diamond Crystal Salt, and Truvia.
- They managed to avoid going public because of its size and the number of assets it holds.
- Because they focus on paying down its debt, they’ve earned an A rating from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Fitch and an A2 rating from Moody’s.
Tight Cargill Family Control
Since its 1865 founding by William W. Cargill, the company has remained a private, family-owned business. Over 100 family members have owned about 90% of Cargill shares for over 140 years.
In the early years, the family was allowed to have total control of Cargill. However, over time, it evolved away from the family management approach. It took nearly 100 years before they let the reigns go and appointed a nonfamily member as the chief executive officer (CEO). Currently, the 17-member board of directors only has six family members. Likewise, the other 11 board members come from outside personnel.
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Global Reach
Cargill, which may be the largest corporation in the world, presently owns major shares of at least the following three corporations: NatureWorks, the Wilbur Chocolate Company, and the Mosaic Company.
Mosaic is a major fertilizer producer, set up as a publicly traded venture of some Macmillan family members. NatureWorks makes bio-plastics, and Wilbur makes chocolate.
In total, Cargill has four different diverse business divisions:
- Agriculture: Cargill connects agricultural commodities like grains and oilseeds with users through processing, marketing, and distribution. Furthermore, they also link crop and livestock producers with farm services and products.
- Animal Nutrition and Protein: The company serves as an intermediary between suppliers and produces a range of animal food services, such as dairy, pork, and pet food, along with meat and poultry products.
- Food: From the farm to the plate, this area provides food manufacturers, food service companies, and retailers of food and beverage ingredients and services.
- Financial and Industrial: Cargill appears to cover all bases, and one of the huge components in production is risk and capital. Along with commodities, Cargill also provides its customers with financial solutions and risk management services.
Bunge ($BG) TipRanks Stock Forecast Report 3/24
Cargill Stock Alternatives
Since you can’t join them, you can’t always try to beat them at their own game. Why don’t you purchase shares in their rival companies, Bunge Limited and Archer-Daniels-Midland?
Both Bunge Limited and Archer Daniels Midland are publicly traded companies in the food processing and agricultural industries. And their numbers look good!
Take Bunge, for example; last year, they made $41.1 billion in revenues and had a market capitalization of $4.8 billion. Likewise, Archer-Daniels-Midland realized revenues of $64.7 million and a market capitalization of $18.2 billion.
Massive Size a Factor
For the last 35 years, Forbes magazine has published its annual list of the largest private companies in America. In all but two of those years, Cargill has claimed the top spot in all but two years.
With $113.5 billion in revenue in 2019, they ranked number one on Forbes’ list. This puts Cargill in the top 15 Fortune 500 list of highest revenue-producing companies. Cargill has maintained a superior credit rating because of its impressive size, revenues, and low debt. To put this in perspective, their debt shrunk from $12.3 billion in 2015 to $9.6 billion in 2019. This matters because, with a good credit rating, they have easy access to money at low interest rates. This means they don’t need to raise money through an equity offering.
One of the costs of not accessing stock markets for capital is that shareholders may need help to capitalize on their assets. Because of this, firms often use stock sales not to raise capital but to compensate their shareholders who want to cash out.
Cargill Stock IPO Pressure
Unsurprisingly, Cargill stockholders have pushed for an IPO (initial public offering) over the years. But much to shareholders’ chagrin, Cargill was able to avert the pressure to go public.
Most likely due to their massive size and huge assets. It all started back in 1993 with an employee stock plan. This plan enabled owners of Cargill stock to cash in on parts of their shares.
This kept the pressure of an IPO at bay. In light of this, close to 90% of the company remained in the hands of the family shareholders.
Yet little did they know that would not be enough. It only took seven years for another cry for an IPO. This time, pressure came from shareholders and charitable trusts that owned stock in the company.
The shares were worth a pretty penny on paper but weren’t liquid. To solve the illiquidity problem, Cargill decided to spin off its 64% ownership in The Mosaic Company.
For those of you who don’t know, The Mosaic Company is one of the largest fertilizer companies in the world. In doing so, shareholders could trade Cargill stock for Mosaic shares.
Undoubtedly, this was a good move, as it also allowed Cargill to pay down more debt.
Final Thoughts: Cargill Stock
Cargill has prevented their heirs from voting to capitalize their shares in public markets and from being involved in managing the firm. This is an impressive feat. This is one of the reasons why Cargill stock doesn’t exist.
However, what happens with the next generation of heirs to their fortune remains to be seen. This assumes the Koch brothers don’t manage to lose their fortune due to their high-profile political involvement. Something which historically proves to be the demise of many business people because politics, like war, demands endless money.
In the meantime, you have many other options to buy stocks from their competitors. Take our free online trading courses to ensure you’re trading stocks in the best way possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cargill is not a publicly traded company. They are one of the largest private companies in the United States.
Investors cannot buy shares in Cargill because it is a privately held company.
If Cargill went public, it would be one of the largest stocks in America.
