Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 47,494 Shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,971,447 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,494 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.77% of Andersons worth $204,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,517 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $629,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 418,039 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $21,010,000 after buying an additional 19,978 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Andersons by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,684 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 1,873 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Andersons by 9.7% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 27,445 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,418 shares during the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Andersons

In other Andersons news, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 34,597 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.46, for a total transaction of $1,918,749.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,631,741.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 1,338 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $73,750.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 89,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,923,042.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 34,597 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.46, for a total value of $1,918,749.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 83,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,631,741.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,264 shares of company stock valued at $2,401,683. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Andersons Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ANDE traded up $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.37. The company had a trading volume of 144,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,261. The Andersons, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.69 and a twelve month high of $58.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.26 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 0.69%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Andersons, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Andersons's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Andersons in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Andersons from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $62.50.

Andersons Company Profile

The Andersons, Inc operates in trade, renewables, and nutrient and industrial sectors in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Switzerland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Trade, Renewables, and Nutrient & Industrial. The company's Trade segment operates grain elevators; stores commodities; and provides grain marketing, risk management, and origination services, as well as sells commodities, such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, ethanol, and corn oil.