The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE Stake Raised by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) by 256.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,099 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC owned 0.12% of Andersons worth $2,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ANDE. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,469,000. Ophir Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,746,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Andersons by 354.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 731,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,868,000 after purchasing an additional 570,245 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Andersons by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 637,342 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,875,000 after buying an additional 287,304 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Andersons by 162.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 438,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,445,000 after buying an additional 271,451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of ANDE stock opened at $68.78 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.37. The Andersons, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.84 and a twelve month high of $82.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 0.64.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 1.17%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 EPS.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. Andersons’s payout ratio is presently 21.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 16,466 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $1,329,794.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 78,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,332,310.84. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,466 shares of company stock worth $5,153,667. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ANDE shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Andersons to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Texas Capital upgraded Andersons to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Andersons from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

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.