Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $55.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Andersons Trading Up 17.3 %

ANDE stock opened at $47.81 on Wednesday. Andersons has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.95.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 8.21%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Andersons will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Andersons’s payout ratio is presently 22.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Andersons news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total transaction of $113,692.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,367,455.73. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS lifted its stake in Andersons by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Andersons by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $98,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Andersons by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $189,000. Institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Company Profile

The Andersons, Inc operates in trade, renewables, and nutrient and industrial sectors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Trade, Renewables, and Nutrient & Industrial. The company’s Trade segment operates grain elevators; stores commodities; and provides grain marketing, risk management, and origination services, as well as sells commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ethanol, and corn oil.