The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 764,300 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the December 31st total of 639,700 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 309,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total value of $113,692.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,367,455.73. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Andersons

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANDE. Peoples Bank KS raised its position in Andersons by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Andersons by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Andersons during the third quarter valued at $98,000. Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new position in Andersons during the third quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Andersons by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANDE has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Andersons in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Andersons Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ANDE traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.75. 174,179 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 239,391. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 0.59. Andersons has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.37. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 1.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Andersons will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.29%.

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.