AlphaQuest LLC Invests $2.34 Million in The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE

AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 58,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ANDE. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 273,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,047,000 after acquiring an additional 198,029 shares during the last quarter. Walnut Level Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Andersons during the second quarter worth $6,989,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Andersons by 11.5% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,722,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,287,000 after purchasing an additional 176,972 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Andersons in the second quarter valued at $2,527,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Andersons by 4,985.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 61,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 59,880 shares during the period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Andersons Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of ANDE stock opened at $61.99 on Friday. The Andersons, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.03 and a fifty-two week high of $62.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.97 and a beta of 0.78.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.38. Andersons had a net margin of 0.63% and a return on equity of 5.83%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This is a boost from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Andersons news, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.77, for a total value of $647,125.00. Following the sale, the director owned 33,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,731,240.57. The trade was a 27.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Anne G. Rex sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.36, for a total value of $154,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 23,549 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,476.64. This represents a 11.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,076,205. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Andersons from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Andersons has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.33.

About Andersons

The Andersons, Inc operates as a diversified agriculture company offering a broad range of products and services to farmers, retailers and industrial customers. Through its Grain Group, the company purchases, stores, merchandises and transports corn, soybeans and other commodities, while its Renewables Group produces ethanol and distillers grains at multiple plants in the U.S. The Rail Group provides locomotive leasing, railcar repair and related maintenance services, and the Horticulture Group supplies turf, specialty and horticultural products to landscaping professionals and consumer lawn and garden retailers.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Maumee, Ohio, The Andersons has grown from a regional grain elevator operator into an integrated agribusiness platform.