Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 15,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ANDE. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Andersons during the third quarter valued at approximately $910,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Andersons during the third quarter valued at approximately $303,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Andersons by 31.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Andersons by 2.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,357 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Andersons by 72.2% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 25,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 10,484 shares during the period. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Andersons Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ANDE opened at $56.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $55.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.62. The Andersons, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.69 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46.

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

Andersons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Andersons news, Director Michael J. Anderson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.00, for a total value of $177,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 209,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,388,112. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael J. Anderson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.00, for a total transaction of $177,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 209,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,388,112. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Patrick E. Bowe sold 3,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $203,253.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,110,391.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,245 shares of company stock valued at $2,534,099. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on ANDE shares. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Andersons from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.50.

Andersons 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.