John Stout, Jr. Sells 2,500 Shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Stock

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Director John Stout, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.30, for a total value of $175,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,647,902.30. The trade was a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Andersons Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ANDE opened at $66.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.28. The Andersons, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.03 and a twelve month high of $71.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73 and a beta of 0.74.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is 28.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ANDE. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Andersons during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Optima Capital LLC acquired a new position in Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Andersons by 95.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.