Andersons’ (ANDE) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $55.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th.

Andersons Stock Performance

NASDAQ ANDE opened at $45.53 on Wednesday. Andersons has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.86 and a 200-day moving average of $45.94.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.34. Andersons had a net margin of 1.01% and a return on equity of 7.59%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Andersons will post 3.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Andersons news, VP Weston Heide sold 800 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $38,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $772,992. The trade was a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total transaction of $113,692.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,367,455.73. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS boosted its position in Andersons by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Andersons by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Andersons during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $98,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Andersons by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Andersons during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $189,000. 87.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Andersons Company Profile

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.