StockNews.com Upgrades Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) to “Buy”

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

Andersons Price Performance

ANDE opened at $47.80 on Wednesday. Andersons has a 12-month low of $45.07 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.83 and a 200-day moving average of $52.40.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.04). Andersons had a return on equity of 6.99% and a net margin of 0.83%. The company had revenue of $2.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ANDE. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Andersons by 8.8% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,737,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $185,390,000 after purchasing an additional 303,711 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Andersons by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,818,680 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,189,000 after purchasing an additional 46,203 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Andersons by 16.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 933,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,325,000 after purchasing an additional 134,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Andersons by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 683,933 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,354,000 after purchasing an additional 18,482 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Andersons by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 456,624 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,649,000 after purchasing an additional 36,594 shares during the period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Andersons

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.