Weiss Asset Management LP Grows Position in The Andersons, Inc. $ANDE

Key Points

• Weiss Asset Management increased its Andersons position by 70.4% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 34,722 shares worth approximately $2.49 million. Institutional investors collectively own 87.06% of the company.
• Andersons reported quarterly EPS of $1.12, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.70, although revenue fell 1.2% year over year to $2.63 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.20, equivalent to a 1.0% annual yield.
• Analysts have a consensus “Buy” rating on ANDE with an average price target of $85, compared with its reported share price of $77.71. The stock recently traded near its 52-week high of $82.11.

Weiss Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE - Free Report) by 70.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,722 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,351 shares during the quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP owned about 0.10% of Andersons worth $2,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Andersons by 0.7% during 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 last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,469,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Andersons by 0.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,259 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Andersons by 354.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 731,019 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,868,000 after purchasing an additional 570,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ophir Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,746,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.06% of the company's stock.

Andersons Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $77.71 on Monday. The Andersons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.84 and a 52 week high of $82.11. The company's 50 day moving average is $72.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Andersons's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ANDE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Texas Capital upgraded Andersons to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Andersons from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Andersons to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Andersons from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Insider Transactions at Andersons

In other Andersons news, Director Patrick E. Bowe sold 16,466 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $1,329,794.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 78,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,332,310.84. The trade was a 17.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,466 shares of company stock worth $2,895,769. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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