Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.33.

Andersons Stock Up 1.2%

Andersons stock opened at $65.65 on Friday. Andersons has a twelve month low of $31.03 and a twelve month high of $70.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.63.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.48. Andersons had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Andersons will post 3.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $275,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,426,755. This trade represents a 16.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Optimize Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Andersons by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 14,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Andersons by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 962 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Andersons by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 3.9% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Andersons by 1.7% in the third quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.