Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Trading Up 0.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) shares were up 0.2% during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $415.00 to $425.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Deere & Company traded as high as $404.22 and last traded at $398.08. Approximately 252,239 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 1,480,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $397.27.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on DE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 target price on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $433.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after buying an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.4% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 236,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,322,000 after buying an additional 5,485 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 6.9% in the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 14,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,284,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at about $2,640,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 483.3% in the third quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 17,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,604,000 after buying an additional 14,500 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $109.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $384.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $382.45.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 27.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.12%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.