Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $67.62 and last traded at $67.6120, with a volume of 66266 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $66.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark upgraded shares of Andersons to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Andersons from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $50.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Andersons Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47 and a beta of 0.77.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $275,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,426,755. This trade represents a 16.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Anne G. Rex sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.36, for a total transaction of $154,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 23,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,476.64. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,076,205. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Andersons by 11.5% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,722,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,287,000 after purchasing an additional 176,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Andersons by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 822,812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,757,000 after buying an additional 3,259 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Andersons by 1.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 509,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,296,000 after buying an additional 9,245 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Andersons by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 506,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,153,000 after acquiring an additional 10,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Andersons by 162.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 438,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,445,000 after acquiring an additional 271,451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.