Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Announces Earnings Results

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.42, Zacks reports. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 0.87%.Andersons’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.12 EPS.

Andersons Trading Down 0.2%

Andersons stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.29. 670,319 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 283,420. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51 and a beta of 0.69. Andersons has a fifty-two week low of $31.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.26.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ANDE. Wall Street Zen lowered Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Benchmark reissued 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Andersons presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 19,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total transaction of $1,495,721.00. Following the sale, the director owned 94,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,429,661.25. This trade represents a 16.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Anne G. Rex sold 2,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.16, for a total value of $170,979.84. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 23,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,552,697.64. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 79,299 shares of company stock worth $5,875,644. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Andersons

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 92,988 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments raised its stake in shares of Andersons by 108.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 25,712 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 13,372 shares during the period. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,729,000. Finally, Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,624,000. 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.