Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Trading Down 4.5% – Here’s What Happened

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE)’s stock price was down 4.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $70.08 and last traded at $70.8920. Approximately 98,729 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 324,201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANDE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on Andersons in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Benchmark lifted their target price on Andersons from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Andersons from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Andersons Trading Up 1.7%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $72.94 and a 200-day moving average of $64.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.64.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.42. Andersons had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 1.17%.The company had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. Andersons’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 19,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total transaction of $1,495,721.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.30, for a total transaction of $175,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,647,902.30. This trade represents a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 83,966 shares of company stock worth $6,385,567. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Andersons by 20.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 132,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,275,000 after acquiring an additional 22,579 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake in Andersons by 149.9% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 153,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,114,000 after acquiring an additional 92,110 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Andersons by 16.9% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 115,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,602,000 after acquiring an additional 16,692 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Andersons in the third quarter worth about $1,426,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Andersons by 564.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 122,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,526,000 after acquiring an additional 104,260 shares during the period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Andersons

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.