Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.06 Million Position in The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) by 13.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 181,963 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,881 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Andersons were worth $13,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ANDE. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Andersons during the 4th quarter valued at $53,469,000. Ophir Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter worth $38,746,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Andersons by 354.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Andersons by 82.1% in the fourth 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 holdings in Andersons by 162.8% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Price Performance

ANDE opened at $77.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.65. The Andersons, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.84 and a 12 month high of $82.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.07.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.42. Andersons had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 1.17%.The firm had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ANDE. Weiss Ratings raised Andersons from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Andersons to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Andersons

In other news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 19,100 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total transaction of $1,495,721.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 94,875 shares in the company, valued at $7,429,661.25. The trade was a 16.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,466 shares of company stock worth $2,895,769. Insiders own 4.30% 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.