Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.85 Million Stock Holdings in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE - Free Report) by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,797 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 14,960 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.11% of Andersons worth $1,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ANDE. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Andersons by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 785,139 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $39,374,000 after acquiring an additional 14,634 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in Andersons by 413.7% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,038 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 10,500 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Andersons by 347.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,358 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 42,217 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Andersons during the third quarter worth about $253,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ANDE has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Andersons from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens upgraded Andersons to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd.

Andersons Stock Performance

NASDAQ ANDE traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 172,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 199,413. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.17. The Andersons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.57.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.37. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 1.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Andersons, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from Andersons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Andersons's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.29%.

Insider Activity at Andersons

In other Andersons news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

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.