Brian Walz Sells 8,975 Shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Stock

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) VP Brian Walz sold 8,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.74, for a total transaction of $634,891.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,725.62. This trade represents a 42.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Andersons Trading Down 0.3%

Andersons stock opened at $69.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.62 and a 200-day moving average of $52.88. 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 Andersons, Inc. has a one year low of $31.03 and a one year high of $71.54.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.48. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 0.87%.The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Andersons’s quarterly revenue was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Andersons’s payout ratio is 28.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANDE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Three 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.33.

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.