The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Short Interest Down 12.2% in March

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 683,800 shares, a decline of 12.2% from the March 15th total of 778,700 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 178,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Andersons Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ ANDE traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $56.84. The company had a trading volume of 27,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,027. Andersons has a fifty-two week low of $35.69 and a fifty-two week high of $58.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $54.92 and its 200 day moving average is $53.26.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.48. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 0.69%. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Andersons will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.50.

Insider Transactions at Andersons

In related news, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 1,338 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $73,750.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 89,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,923,042.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Andersons news, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 2,623 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total value of $144,842.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,005,858.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 1,338 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total value of $73,750.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,923,042.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,858 shares of company stock worth $2,153,845. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Andersons by 2.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,650,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $283,999,000 after purchasing an additional 120,906 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Andersons by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,971,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $204,569,000 after acquiring an additional 47,494 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 46,203 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Andersons by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,314,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $133,190,000 after acquiring an additional 907,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Andersons by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,237,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,629,000 after acquiring an additional 14,313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% 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.