Short Interest in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Declines By 39.7%

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 639,700 shares, a decrease of 39.7% from the December 15th total of 1,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 293,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Andersons Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $44.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Andersons has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.50.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 1.06%. Andersons’s quarterly revenue was down 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Andersons will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.195 dividend. This is a positive change from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Andersons news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of Andersons 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ANDE. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Andersons by 11.5% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Andersons in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $476,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Andersons by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 32,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 5,198 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Andersons by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 933,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,325,000 after purchasing an additional 134,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in Andersons in the 2nd quarter valued at $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Andersons in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

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.