Pacer Advisors Inc. Takes $9.03 Million Position in The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors disclosed a new position in The Andersons, buying 169,774 shares worth about $9.03 million in the fourth quarter, giving it roughly 0.50% ownership of the company.
• Institutional interest remains high, with several large investors adding to or initiating positions and 87.06% of Andersons stock now held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• The company reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, posting $1.12 EPS versus $0.70 expected, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share payable July 22.

Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 169,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $9,027,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.50% of Andersons at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Andersons by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,349,243 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $124,910,000 after purchasing an additional 17,278 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,469,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Andersons by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 822,812 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $43,757,000 after buying an additional 3,259 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Andersons by 354.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 731,019 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,868,000 after buying an additional 570,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ophir Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Andersons during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,746,000. 87.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Andersons in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings raised Andersons from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Andersons from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Andersons to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Three 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.00.

Insider Activity at Andersons

In related news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 19,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total transaction of $1,495,721.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 94,875 shares in the company, valued at $7,429,661.25. This represents a 16.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,466 shares of company stock valued at $5,153,667. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Andersons Price Performance

NASDAQ ANDE opened at $71.22 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.64. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $72.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.37. The Andersons, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.84 and a 52-week high of $82.11.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.71 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 1.17% and a return on equity of 10.68%. Andersons's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. Andersons's payout ratio is presently 21.28%.

Andersons Company Profile

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.

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