Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) VP Brian Walz Sells 200 Shares of Stock

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) VP Brian Walz sold 200 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $14,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 20,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,462,160. The trade was a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Andersons Price Performance

Shares of ANDE traded up $0.48 on Friday, reaching $64.05. The stock had a trading volume of 315,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,782. The Andersons, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.03 and a twelve month high of $70.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.41 and a 200 day moving average of $51.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Andersons Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Andersons in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Andersons during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Andersons during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 33,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Andersons by 95.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.