Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $74.10 and last traded at $73.80, with a volume of 97967 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ANDE shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Andersons currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.33.

Andersons Trading Up 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.75 and its 200-day moving average is $56.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68 and a beta of 0.68.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.48. Andersons had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Andersons news, VP Brian K. Walz sold 8,975 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president owned 11,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,725.62. The trade was a 42.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 15,000 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.33, for a total transaction of $1,114,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 129,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,653,608.75. The trade was a 10.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 44,299 shares of company stock worth $3,166,721 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Andersons in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Andersons in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new position in Andersons in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Andersons by 33,600.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Andersons by 95.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Company Profile

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.