Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Benchmark Analyst Says

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) had its price objective raised by Benchmark from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 28.46% from the stock’s current price.

ANDE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Monday, April 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.33.

Andersons Trading Up 2.7%

Andersons stock traded up $1.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $70.06. 122,540 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 326,125. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Andersons has a fifty-two week low of $31.53 and a fifty-two week high of $82.11.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.71 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 10.55% and a net margin of 1.17%.The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 EPS.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 19,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total value of $1,495,721.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 94,875 shares in the company, valued at $7,429,661.25. This trade represents a 16.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Brian K. Walz sold 8,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.74, for a total value of $634,891.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,913 shares in the company, valued at $842,725.62. The trade was a 42.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 95,765 shares of company stock worth $7,205,438 over the last quarter. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ANDE. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Andersons during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Optima Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Andersons by 33,600.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Andersons by 95.2% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

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.