Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ANDE. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Andersons from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Andersons from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $110.00 target price on shares of Andersons in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Andersons Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ANDE opened at $70.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.75. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.63. Andersons has a 12-month low of $37.69 and a 12-month high of $82.11.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.67. Andersons had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 1.62%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Andersons’s payout ratio is currently 15.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Andersons

In other news, Director Patrick Bowe sold 3,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total value of $284,593.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 74,875 shares in the company, valued at $6,029,683.75. This represents a 4.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons in the second quarter valued at $427,688,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at $5,273,000. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Andersons by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 72,808 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,871,000 after buying an additional 18,828 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in Andersons during the second quarter valued at $1,302,000. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Andersons during the second quarter valued at $2,790,000. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Andersons Company Profile

The Andersons, Inc is an agriculture-focused company headquartered in Maumee, Ohio. Founded in 1947, the company serves farmers, manufacturers, food and feed producers, and other customers through businesses connected to grain, plant nutrients, and renewable fuels.

The company’s activities include merchandising and storing grains, supplying agricultural fertilizers and related plant-nutrient products, and producing and marketing ethanol and other renewable fuel products. Its operations also support the movement and processing of agricultural commodities through grain terminals, elevators, and logistics services.

The Andersons serves customers primarily across the United States, with operations and commercial relationships extending into Canada and other markets.