Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Director Patrick Bowe Sells 15,000 Shares

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Director Patrick 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 transaction, the director owned 159,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink.

Andersons Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $69.94 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.62 and a 200 day moving average of $52.88. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 0.74. The Andersons, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.03 and a 12 month high of $71.54.

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

Andersons Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on ANDE shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.33.

Institutional Trading of Andersons

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ANDE. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in Andersons in the fourth quarter valued at $53,469,000. Ophir Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter worth about $38,746,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 354.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 731,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,868,000 after purchasing an additional 570,245 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Andersons by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 637,342 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,875,000 after purchasing an additional 287,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Andersons by 162.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 438,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,445,000 after purchasing an additional 271,451 shares during the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.