Short Interest in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Grows By 11.8%

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 764,400 shares, an increase of 11.8% from the March 31st total of 683,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 177,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Andersons

In related news, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 34,597 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.46, for a total value of $1,918,749.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 83,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,631,741.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Andersons news, Director Michael J. Anderson sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.00, for a total value of $177,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 209,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,388,112. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 34,597 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.46, for a total transaction of $1,918,749.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,631,741.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,245 shares of company stock valued at $2,534,099. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANDE. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Andersons by 65.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in Andersons during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Andersons during the first quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in Andersons during the third quarter valued at $107,000. 87.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Andersons Stock Performance

Shares of ANDE stock opened at $54.94 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $55.86 and its 200 day moving average is $53.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Andersons has a 52-week low of $35.69 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Andersons Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.85%.

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.