Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Stock Lifted to “Strong-Buy” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised Andersons from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Andersons in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Andersons from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Andersons has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Andersons Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Andersons stock opened at $64.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.65. Andersons has a 1-year low of $44.63 and a 1-year high of $82.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.46 and a 200-day moving average of $70.69.

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

Andersons Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is 15.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Andersons news, Director Patrick Bowe sold 3,534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total transaction of $284,593.02. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $427,688,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Andersons by 35.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 860,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,768,000 after buying an additional 223,600 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Andersons in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,610,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Andersons in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,628,000. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new position in Andersons in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,490,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc is an agribusiness company that supplies agricultural inputs, manages and markets grain, and produces renewable fuels and related co-products. Its activities support farmers, food and feed manufacturers, fuel producers, and industrial customers, primarily in the United States.

The company operates through businesses focused on trade, renewables, and nutrients and industrial products. Its offerings and services include grain merchandising and storage, commodity marketing, ethanol production, plant nutrients, fertilizers, soil amendments, and specialty agricultural and industrial products.