Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $40.77, but opened at $47.13. Andersons shares last traded at $51.20, with a volume of 92,772 shares changing hands.

The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 8.21%.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ANDE. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Andersons news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total value of $113,692.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,367,455.73. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Andersons by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Andersons by 5.9% in the third quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. James Investment Research Inc. lifted its position in shares of Andersons by 7.7% in the third quarter. James Investment Research Inc. now owns 9,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in Andersons by 41.5% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 13,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 3,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Andersons by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 488,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,494,000 after buying an additional 31,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Trading Up 25.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc operates in trade, renewables, and nutrient and industrial sectors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Trade, Renewables, and Nutrient & Industrial. The company’s Trade segment operates grain elevators; stores commodities; and provides grain marketing, risk management, and origination services, as well as sells commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ethanol, and corn oil.