ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 31,589 Shares of The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC cut its stake in The Andersons by 20.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 31,589 shares and leaving it with 124,782 shares valued at about $6.64 million.
• Insider selling was notable, including recent sales by VP Brian K. Walz and Director Patrick E. Bowe; insiders sold 95,565 shares worth about $7.19 million over the last quarter.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with multiple recent price-target hikes and upgrades leaving Andersons with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $85.

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE - Free Report) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,782 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 31,589 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.37% of Andersons worth $6,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ANDE. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Andersons in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Andersons in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Andersons by 33,600.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Andersons by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Andersons by 227.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,954 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian K. Walz sold 8,975 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.74, for a total transaction of $634,891.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 11,913 shares in the company, valued at $842,725.62. The trade was a 42.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 19,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.31, for a total value of $1,495,721.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 94,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,429,661.25. This represents a 16.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 95,565 shares of company stock worth $7,191,438 in the last quarter. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on ANDE shares. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on Andersons in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Andersons from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Andersons from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Andersons from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Andersons from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Andersons has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Andersons Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $70.85 on Friday. The Andersons, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.84 and a 1 year high of $82.11. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock's 50-day moving average is $72.49 and its 200 day moving average is $62.58.

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

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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