Insider Selling: Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) VP Sells $170,979.84 in Stock

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) VP Anne Rex sold 2,624 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.16, for a total transaction of $170,979.84. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 23,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,552,697.64. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Andersons Stock Performance

Shares of Andersons stock opened at $64.05 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.48. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88 and a beta of 0.74. The Andersons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.03 and a 52 week high of $70.06.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 0.87%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANDE. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Andersons in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,027,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Andersons by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 602,808 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,051,000 after purchasing an additional 92,988 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its stake in shares of Andersons by 108.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 25,712 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 13,372 shares in the last quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,729,000. 87.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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