Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 1,550,479 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the previous session’s volume of 3,495,476 shares.The stock last traded at $52.86 and had previously closed at $52.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CTVA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Corteva from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 7th. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Corteva in a report on Friday, August 4th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Corteva from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Corteva from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Corteva from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Corteva has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.41.

Corteva Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.57. The company has a market capitalization of $37.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. Corteva had a net margin of 5.26% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Corteva’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a $0.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Corteva’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Corteva

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CTVA. AXS Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Corteva in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in Corteva in the second quarter worth $28,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Corteva in the first quarter worth $29,000. Blume Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Corteva by 103.8% in the second quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 542 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Corteva in the second quarter worth $31,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Corteva

Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics.