The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes Position in The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 17,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Andersons during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $427,688,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Andersons in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,273,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Andersons by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 72,808 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,871,000 after purchasing an additional 18,828 shares during the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons during the first quarter valued at approximately $12,228,000. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,790,000. 87.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Andersons Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Andersons stock opened at $69.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Andersons, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.69 and a 12-month high of $82.11. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.59.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.67. Andersons had a net margin of 1.62% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Texas Capital upgraded shares of Andersons to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Andersons in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Andersons from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patrick Bowe sold 3,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total value of $284,593.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 74,875 shares in the company, valued at $6,029,683.75. This trade represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 4.30% 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.