Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday.

Andersons Price Performance

Andersons stock opened at $46.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 0.58. Andersons has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.95.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.34. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 1.01%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Andersons will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is 23.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Andersons news, VP Weston Heide sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 16,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $772,992. The trade was a 4.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total transaction of $113,692.86. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,367,455.73. This trade represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ANDE. Peoples Bank KS lifted its stake in Andersons by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings 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 valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Andersons in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $98,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Andersons by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Andersons in the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.