Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 4,135 Shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 160,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,135 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Andersons worth $6,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,166,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,278,000 after buying an additional 84,133 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Andersons by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 615,897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,956,000 after buying an additional 61,250 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Andersons by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 463,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,783,000 after purchasing an additional 81,777 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Andersons by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 397,691 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,114,000 after buying an additional 38,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Andersons by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 335,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,604,000 after buying an additional 8,492 shares during the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Andersons in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Lake Street Capital cut their price objective on shares of Andersons from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th.

Andersons Price Performance

ANDE stock opened at $37.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.76. The Andersons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.03 and a 52 week high of $55.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.09 and its 200 day moving average is $39.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.75.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.20. Andersons had a net margin of 0.97% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.195 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.61%.

Andersons 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.