Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) VP Brian Walz Sells 8,975 Shares

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) VP Brian Walz sold 8,975 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.74, for a total value of $634,891.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,725.62. This trade represents a 42.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Andersons Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ANDE opened at $70.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.67. The Andersons, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.03 and a 1-year high of $71.54.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced 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. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 0.87%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Andersons’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ANDE shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. 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 report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Andersons in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Andersons in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Andersons by 95.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

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.