Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Andersons in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Andersons Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ANDE opened at $40.55 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.22. Andersons has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 0.58.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Andersons’s payout ratio is currently 22.29%.

Insider Activity at Andersons

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Andersons by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,337,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,054,000 after acquiring an additional 28,773 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Andersons by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,110,000 after buying an additional 46,903 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS lifted its holdings in Andersons by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Andersons by 375.0% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,117,000 after buying an additional 33,336 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Andersons by 23.6% in 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 buying an additional 124,468 shares during the period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.