BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Stock

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) had its target price increased by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $75.00 to $90.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential upside of 20.84% from the company’s previous close.

ANDE has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Andersons to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Andersons from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $110.00 target price on Andersons in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Andersons has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Andersons Trading Up 6.6%

Shares of ANDE stock opened at $74.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.04. Andersons has a fifty-two week low of $31.84 and a fifty-two week high of $82.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.67. Andersons had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 1.62%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. Andersons’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 3,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total value of $284,593.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 74,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,029,683.75. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Andersons

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Andersons during the 4th quarter valued at $5,273,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its holdings in shares of Andersons by 149.9% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 153,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,114,000 after acquiring an additional 92,110 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Andersons by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 165,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,826,000 after purchasing an additional 33,873 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Andersons by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 72,808 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,871,000 after purchasing an additional 18,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Andersons in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,027,000. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.