The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its position in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) by 11.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,718 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Andersons were worth $6,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Andersons by 3.9% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Andersons by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Andersons by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 7,281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Andersons by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in Andersons by 7.7% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 8,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $68.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.07 and a beta of 0.77. The Andersons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.03 and a 52 week high of $70.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $57.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.14.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ANDE. Benchmark upgraded shares of Andersons to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised Andersons from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Andersons news, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.77, for a total value of $647,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,731,240.57. This represents a 27.21% 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. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.