Short Interest in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Expands By 30.2%

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 901,156 shares, a growth of 30.2% from the February 26th total of 692,231 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 334,436 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian K. Walz sold 8,975 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.74, for a total transaction of $634,891.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,725.62. This trade represents a 42.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.30, for a total value of $175,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,647,902.30. This trade represents a 9.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,299 shares of company stock valued at $2,051,771. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Andersons

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new position in Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Andersons during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Andersons by 95.2% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Andersons by 33,600.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.33.

Andersons Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ ANDE opened at $73.19 on Friday. Andersons has a one year low of $31.03 and a one year high of $73.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $65.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 0.74.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.48. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 0.87%.The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Andersons will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.57%.

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.