67,715 Shares in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Acquired by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 67,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,744,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.20% of Andersons as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Andersons by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 652,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,720,000 after purchasing an additional 124,468 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Andersons during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,798,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Andersons by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,110,000 after acquiring an additional 46,903 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Andersons in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,311,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Andersons by 347.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after purchasing an additional 42,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ ANDE opened at $44.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.98. The Andersons, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $61.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 0.59.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 1.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. Analysts expect that The Andersons, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.195 dividend. This is a boost from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Andersons’s payout ratio is currently 22.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ANDE. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Andersons news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total value of $113,692.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,367,455.73. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Andersons Company 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.