Insider Selling: Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) VP Sells $634,891.50 in Stock

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) VP Brian Walz sold 8,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.74, for a total transaction of $634,891.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,913 shares in the company, valued at $842,725.62. This trade represents a 42.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Andersons Trading Down 0.7%

Andersons stock opened at $69.47 on Thursday. The Andersons, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.03 and a 1 year high of $71.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.98 and its 200-day moving average is $52.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81 and a beta of 0.74.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is 28.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Andersons in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Optima Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Andersons during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Andersons by 33,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ANDE. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.33.

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.