This story originally appeared on Zacks

In the latest trading session, The Andersons (ANDE) closed at $39.18, marking a +0.51% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500’s 0.92% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.51%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.54%.

Prior to today’s trading, shares of the agriculture company had gained 11.63% over the past month. This has outpaced the Basic Materials sector’s gain of 3.29% and the S&P 500’s loss of 0.85% in that time.

The Andersons will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.58, down 1.69% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.63 billion, up 3.27% from the year-ago period.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for The Andersons should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. The Andersons is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that The Andersons has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.02 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 20.1.

The Agriculture – Products industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 72, which puts it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow ANDE in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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