Short Interest in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) Increases By 10.6%

The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,060,000 shares, an increase of 10.6% from the November 30th total of 958,400 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 269,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ANDE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens raised shares of Andersons to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com raised Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Andersons Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $39.80 on Tuesday. 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.15. Andersons has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $61.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.57.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was down 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Andersons will post 2.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.195 dividend. This is a positive change from Andersons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Andersons’s payout ratio is currently 22.29%.

Insider Transactions at Andersons

In other 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 value of $113,692.86. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,367,455.73. This represents a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Andersons by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Andersons by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 785,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,374,000 after purchasing an additional 14,634 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in shares of Andersons by 413.7% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 10,500 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Andersons by 347.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,725,000 after purchasing an additional 42,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Andersons in the third quarter valued at approximately $253,000. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.