Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Receives "Overweight" Rating from Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE - Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $60.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Andersons from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Andersons Stock Down 1.0 %

ANDE traded down $0.42 on Thursday, hitting $40.10. The company had a trading volume of 240,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 199,632. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Andersons has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.98.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.37. Andersons had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 8.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Andersons will post 2.9 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This is a boost from Andersons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Andersons's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Andersons

In related news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total value of $113,692.86. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,367,455.73. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Andersons during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Andersons in the third quarter worth approximately $98,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Andersons by 92.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Andersons in the 2nd quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Andersons in the 2nd quarter worth $219,000. 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.