Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $71.54 and last traded at $69.94, with a volume of 402382 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ANDE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Andersons has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.33.

Andersons Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.62 and a 200 day simple 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.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 0.87%.The firm’s revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Insider Transactions at Andersons

In other news, VP Brian K. Walz sold 8,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.74, for a total transaction of $634,891.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,913 shares in the company, valued at $842,725.62. This represents a 42.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 15,000 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.41, for a total transaction of $1,056,150.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 159,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,256,798.75. This represents a 8.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,799 shares of company stock worth $1,876,021. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Andersons

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Andersons during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Optima Capital LLC bought a new stake in Andersons in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Andersons by 33,600.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 95.2% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% 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.