Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Buys 26,896 Shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE) by 86.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,896 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Andersons were worth $2,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS boosted its position in shares of Andersons by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Andersons by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Andersons by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Andersons in the 3rd quarter worth $227,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Andersons during the third quarter valued at about $253,000. 87.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ANDE shares. StockNews.com lowered Andersons from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Andersons in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Andersons Stock Down 0.8 %

ANDE opened at $42.93 on Tuesday. The Andersons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.48.

Andersons (NASDAQ:ANDE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Andersons had a return on equity of 7.59% and a net margin of 1.01%. Analysts forecast that The Andersons, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Andersons Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.195 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Andersons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Andersons news, VP Weston Heide sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $38,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,104 shares in the company, valued at $772,992. This represents a 4.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

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.