The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

A number of brokerages recently commented on ANDE. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Texas Capital upgraded shares of Andersons to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Andersons from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Andersons to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th.

Andersons Stock Down 2.1%

ANDE opened at $64.10 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 0.66. Andersons has a one year low of $37.69 and a one year high of $82.11.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 1.62%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Andersons

In other news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 3,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total value of $284,593.02. Following the sale, the director directly owned 74,875 shares in the company, valued at $6,029,683.75. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Andersons

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Optimize Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of Andersons by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 14,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Andersons by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 962 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Andersons by 95.2% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Andersons during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Andersons by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during 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.