The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP cut its Andersons stake by 44.1% in the first quarter, selling 44,680 shares and retaining 56,678 shares worth approximately $4.1 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 87.06% of ANDE.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Buy” rating and a $95 price target. BMO Capital Markets recently raised its target from $75 to $90 and maintained an “outperform” rating.
• Andersons reported quarterly EPS of $2.15, exceeding estimates of $1.48, although revenue of $3.10 billion fell short of expectations and declined 1.2% year over year. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, yielding about 1.1% annually.

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE - Free Report) by 44.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,678 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 44,680 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.17% of Andersons worth $4,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optimize Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 14,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $779,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Andersons by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 962 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Andersons by 95.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Andersons during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Andersons by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 24,085 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Andersons news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 3,534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total transaction of $284,593.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 74,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,029,683.75. This trade represents a 4.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ANDE. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Andersons in a report on Monday, June 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Andersons to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Andersons from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Andersons from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Andersons from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Andersons has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Andersons Stock Down 6.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $69.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.12. The Andersons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.78 and a 52 week high of $82.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.66.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. Andersons had a net margin of 1.62% and a return on equity of 16.23%. 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 posted $0.24 EPS.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Andersons's payout ratio is currently 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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