Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Shares in The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 14,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,070,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Andersons by 33,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Andersons by 95.2% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Andersons by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 962 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Price Performance

ANDE opened at $66.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.89. The Andersons, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.84 and a 1 year high of $82.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.71 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 1.17% and a return on equity of 10.68%. Andersons’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.28%.

Insider Activity at Andersons

In related news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 16,466 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $1,329,794.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 78,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,332,310.84. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 66,466 shares of company stock worth $5,153,667 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANDE has been the topic of several research reports. Texas Capital raised shares of Andersons to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Andersons to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

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.