Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Director Sells $175,750.00 in Stock

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Director John Stout, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.30, for a total transaction of $175,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,647,902.30. The trade was a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Andersons Price Performance

NASDAQ ANDE traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $68.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 121,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,905. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.99. The Andersons, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.03 and a fifty-two week high of $71.54. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32 and a beta of 0.74.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new position 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 valued at approximately $38,746,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Andersons by 354.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 731,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,868,000 after buying an additional 570,245 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Andersons by 82.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 287,304 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ANDE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.33.

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.