Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Price Target Raised to $90.00 at Benchmark

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) had its price target hoisted by Benchmark from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Andersons has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.50.

Andersons Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ ANDE traded up $1.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $72.17. 189,862 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 331,968. Andersons has a twelve month low of $31.84 and a twelve month high of $82.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $71.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.81.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 1.17%.Andersons’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 EPS.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.28%.

Insider Activity at Andersons

In other Andersons news, VP Brian K. Walz sold 8,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.74, for a total value of $634,891.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,725.62. This represents a 42.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Anne G. Rex sold 2,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.16, for a total transaction of $170,979.84. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 23,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,552,697.64. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,765 shares of company stock valued at $7,205,438. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,257,000. Barings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons in the first quarter valued at $1,873,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 11.6% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the first quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the first quarter worth $354,000. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.