Andersons’ (ANDE) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $60.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Andersons Stock Performance

NASDAQ ANDE opened at $40.09 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.59. Andersons has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 8.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Andersons will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.195 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is 22.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total transaction of $113,692.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,367,455.73. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ANDE. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Andersons by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Andersons by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 785,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,374,000 after buying an additional 14,634 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc increased its stake in shares of Andersons by 413.7% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 10,500 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Andersons by 347.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 42,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Andersons during the 3rd quarter valued at $253,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc operates in trade, renewables, and nutrient and industrial sectors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Trade, Renewables, and Nutrient & Industrial. The company’s Trade segment operates grain elevators; stores commodities; and provides grain marketing, risk management, and origination services, as well as sells commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ethanol, and corn oil.