The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Short Interest Up 19.5% in January

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 764,300 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the December 31st total of 639,700 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 309,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity at Andersons

In other news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total value of $113,692.86. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,367,455.73. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Andersons

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANDE. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Andersons during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,311,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Andersons by 20.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 6,644 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Andersons by 5.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 88,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,365,000 after purchasing an additional 4,413 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Andersons in the 3rd quarter worth about $499,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Andersons by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 9,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Trading Down 2.2 %

ANDE traded down $0.93 on Friday, hitting $40.75. The company had a trading volume of 174,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 239,391. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Andersons has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 0.59.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.37. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 1.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Andersons will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANDE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Andersons in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

About Andersons

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.