Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Position in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons during the 1st quarter worth about $515,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Andersons by 12.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Andersons by 5.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 418,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,010,000 after acquiring an additional 19,978 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Andersons by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Andersons by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 27,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Andersons news, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 1,338 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $73,750.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,923,042.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 2,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total value of $144,842.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,653 shares in the company, valued at $5,005,858.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 1,338 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $73,750.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,923,042.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,858 shares of company stock valued at $2,153,845. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $62.50.

Andersons Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $57.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.68. The Andersons, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.69 and a 1 year high of $58.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.08.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.48. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 0.69%. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Andersons, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Andersons’s payout ratio is 25.85%.

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.