Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Benchmark

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Andersons from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $50.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Andersons presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Andersons Stock Performance

Andersons stock opened at $66.86 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 0.77. Andersons has a 12-month low of $31.03 and a 12-month high of $67.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.26.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 5.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Andersons will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Andersons

In other Andersons news, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $275,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,426,755. The trade was a 16.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Anne G. Rex sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.36, for a total value of $154,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 23,549 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,476.64. This trade represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,500 shares of company stock worth $1,076,205. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ANDE. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Andersons by 162.8% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 438,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,445,000 after buying an additional 271,451 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Andersons during the third quarter valued at $8,201,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Andersons by 262.8% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 273,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,047,000 after acquiring an additional 198,029 shares during the last quarter. Walnut Level Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Andersons during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,989,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Andersons by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,722,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,287,000 after acquiring an additional 176,972 shares in the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.