Short Interest in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Grows By 10.7%

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,000,000 shares, an increase of 10.7% from the March 15th total of 2,710,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on DE. Melius cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $393.11 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $345.55 and a 52-week high of $450.00. The company has a market capitalization of $109.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $382.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.05.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. RB Capital Management LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $14,541,000. Retirement Income Solutions Inc purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at $229,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 114,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,496,000 after purchasing an additional 27,985 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.