Short Interest in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Drops By 39.7%

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 639,700 shares, a decrease of 39.7% from the December 15th total of 1,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 293,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph E. Mcneely sold 2,382 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total transaction of $113,692.86. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,367,455.73. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Andersons

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS raised its stake in shares of Andersons by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 3rd quarter valued at about $98,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Andersons by 92.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Andersons in the 2nd quarter valued at about $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

Andersons Trading Up 1.3 %

ANDE traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.06. The stock had a trading volume of 17,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,117. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.54. Andersons has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $61.46.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 1.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Andersons will post 2.9 EPS for the current year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

About Andersons

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.