The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.00.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ANDE shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Texas Capital upgraded Andersons to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Andersons from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Andersons in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th.

Andersons Stock Performance

Shares of ANDE stock opened at $69.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.59. Andersons has a one year low of $37.69 and a one year high of $82.11.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Andersons news, Director Patrick Bowe sold 3,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total transaction of $284,593.02. Following the sale, the director owned 74,875 shares in the company, valued at $6,029,683.75. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Andersons

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Andersons during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Andersons by 95.2% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Andersons during the fourth quarter worth $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

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.