Short Interest in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Declines By 39.7%

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 639,700 shares, a decrease of 39.7% from the December 31st total of 1,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 293,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Andersons in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Andersons Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ANDE traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.46. The stock had a trading volume of 28,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,233. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.10. Andersons has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 0.59.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.37. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 1.06%. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Andersons will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.195 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a boost from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Andersons’s payout ratio is 22.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $113,692.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,367,455.73. This trade 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Andersons by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,337,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,054,000 after buying an additional 28,773 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Andersons by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 101,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,110,000 after buying an additional 46,903 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Andersons by 375.0% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,117,000 after buying an additional 33,336 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS grew its position in Andersons by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Andersons by 23.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 652,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,720,000 after buying an additional 124,468 shares in the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.