Sterling Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) by 88.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,284 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Andersons were worth $77,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Andersons in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Optima Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Andersons during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Andersons by 95.2% during the fourth 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. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Andersons by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 962 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANDE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Texas Capital upgraded shares of Andersons to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Andersons from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Andersons to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Andersons currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Andersons

In related news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 19,100 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total value of $1,495,721.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 94,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,429,661.25. This trade represents a 16.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,466 shares of company stock valued at $4,038,717. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Price Performance

Shares of Andersons stock opened at $72.05 on Thursday. The Andersons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.84 and a 52 week high of $82.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $71.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.26.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 1.17% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.28%.

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.