Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) Given New $75.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) had its price target upped by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 16.03% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on ANDE. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Andersons in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.33.

Andersons Price Performance

ANDE opened at $64.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $58.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.10. Andersons has a 1 year low of $31.03 and a 1 year high of $70.06.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.48. Andersons had a net margin of 0.87% and a return on equity of 7.52%. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Andersons will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John T. Stout, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Andersons stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $275,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,941 shares in the company, valued at $1,426,755. This trade represents a 16.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Andersons during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Optima Capital LLC bought a new stake in Andersons in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Andersons during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Andersons by 95.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Andersons by 33,600.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.06% of the company’s stock.

About Andersons

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.