Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Stephens

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stephens to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Andersons Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $46.95 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $47.98 and its 200-day moving average is $49.15. Andersons has a 1-year low of $41.76 and a 1-year high of $61.46.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Buying and Selling at Andersons

In other news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,367,455.73. This represents a 4.58 % 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. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Andersons

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Andersons by 31.5% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Andersons by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 785,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,374,000 after buying an additional 14,634 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in Andersons by 413.7% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 10,500 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Andersons by 347.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,725,000 after buying an additional 42,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Andersons during the third quarter worth $253,000. 87.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.