Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Andersons to “strong buy” from “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Buy” with a $95 price target.
• Andersons reported quarterly EPS of $2.15, exceeding the $1.48 consensus estimate, though revenue of $3.10 billion fell short of forecasts and declined 1.2% year over year.
• The stock opened at $64.93, below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages; institutional investors own a substantial 87.06% stake, while a director recently sold shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

ANDE has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Andersons from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $110.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Andersons from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Andersons Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ANDE opened at $64.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business's 50 day moving average is $67.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.69. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.65. Andersons has a 12 month low of $44.63 and a 12 month high of $82.11.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 1.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patrick Bowe sold 3,534 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total transaction of $284,593.02. Following the sale, the director directly owned 74,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,029,683.75. The trade was a 4.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANDE. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Andersons in the second quarter valued at $38,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Andersons by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,993 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Andersons by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,458 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Andersons by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 33,055 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Andersons by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 205,985 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $13,533,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company's stock.

Andersons Company Profile

The Andersons, Inc is an agribusiness company that supplies agricultural inputs, manages and markets grain, and produces renewable fuels and related co-products. Its activities support farmers, food and feed manufacturers, fuel producers, and industrial customers, primarily in the United States.

The company operates through businesses focused on trade, renewables, and nutrients and industrial products. Its offerings and services include grain merchandising and storage, commodity marketing, ethanol production, plant nutrients, fertilizers, soil amendments, and specialty agricultural and industrial products.

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