Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $72.18 and last traded at $71.3160, with a volume of 131422 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ANDE. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Three 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.33.

Andersons Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.64. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 0.87%.Andersons’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total transaction of $1,056,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 159,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,256,798.75. This trade represents a 8.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.30, for a total transaction of $175,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,647,902.30. The trade was a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 29,299 shares of company stock worth $2,051,771 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Andersons in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Optima Capital LLC acquired a new position in Andersons in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Andersons by 33,600.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Andersons by 95.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in 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.