Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Andersons has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.33.

Andersons Price Performance

Shares of ANDE opened at $65.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45 and a beta of 0.77. Andersons has a 12-month low of $31.03 and a 12-month high of $70.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.43.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 0.87%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Andersons will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.77, for a total value of $647,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,731,240.57. This trade represents a 27.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Andersons during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,469,000. Ophir Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,746,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Andersons by 354.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 731,019 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,868,000 after acquiring an additional 570,245 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 287,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Andersons by 162.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 271,451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Company Profile

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.