Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Andersons from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Andersons in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Andersons from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Andersons presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Andersons Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ ANDE opened at $64.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Andersons has a 12 month low of $44.63 and a 12 month high of $82.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $67.43 and a 200-day moving average of $70.63.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 1.62% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s payout ratio is presently 15.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patrick Bowe sold 3,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total value of $284,593.02. Following the transaction, the director owned 74,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,029,683.75. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Andersons in the second quarter valued at about $427,688,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Andersons during the second quarter worth about $54,610,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Andersons during the second quarter worth about $20,628,000. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Andersons in the 2nd quarter worth about $15,490,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Andersons by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 860,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,768,000 after purchasing an additional 223,600 shares in the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc is an agribusiness company that supplies agricultural inputs, manages and markets grain, and produces renewable fuels and related co-products. Its activities support farmers, food and feed manufacturers, fuel producers, and industrial customers, primarily in the United States.

The company operates through businesses focused on trade, renewables, and nutrients and industrial products. Its offerings and services include grain merchandising and storage, commodity marketing, ethanol production, plant nutrients, fertilizers, soil amendments, and specialty agricultural and industrial products.