Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Benchmark

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) was upgraded by analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Andersons from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Andersons has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.50.

Andersons Stock Performance

Shares of ANDE stock opened at $66.86 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.26. Andersons has a one year low of $31.03 and a one year high of $67.46. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.38. Andersons had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 5.83%. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. Andersons’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Andersons will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Andersons

In other Andersons news, VP Anne G. Rex sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.36, for a total transaction of $154,080.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 23,549 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,476.64. This trade represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.77, for a total transaction of $647,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,731,240.57. The trade was a 27.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 20,500 shares of company stock worth $1,076,205 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Andersons in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,320,000. Walnut Level Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,989,000. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Andersons by 43.5% in the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 98,442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,618,000 after acquiring an additional 29,858 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Andersons during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,331,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Andersons during the third quarter worth $2,344,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc operates as a diversified agriculture company offering a broad range of products and services to farmers, retailers and industrial customers. Through its Grain Group, the company purchases, stores, merchandises and transports corn, soybeans and other commodities, while its Renewables Group produces ethanol and distillers grains at multiple plants in the U.S. The Rail Group provides locomotive leasing, railcar repair and related maintenance services, and the Horticulture Group supplies turf, specialty and horticultural products to landscaping professionals and consumer lawn and garden retailers.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Maumee, Ohio, The Andersons has grown from a regional grain elevator operator into an integrated agribusiness platform.