JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 18,706 Shares of The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its holdings in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 244,691 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 18,706 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Andersons were worth $9,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Andersons by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 132,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,275,000 after buying an additional 22,579 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons during the third quarter worth $1,320,000. Walnut Level Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Andersons in the second quarter worth $6,989,000. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 165.7% in the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,236 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 8,879 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Andersons in the second quarter valued at $1,331,000. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Andersons

In related news, VP Anne G. Rex sold 2,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.16, for a total value of $170,979.84. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 23,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,552,697.64. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.77, for a total transaction of $647,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,731,240.57. This represents a 27.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,324 shares of company stock worth $1,107,105. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Andersons Trading Up 0.8%

Andersons stock opened at $64.05 on Friday. 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 Andersons, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.03 and a fifty-two week high of $70.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.30.

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

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ANDE shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.33.

Andersons 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.