Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $443.94.

Several research firms recently commented on DE. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Deere & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,019,000 after buying an additional 540,874 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Deere & Company by 20.5% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,906,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 53.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $710,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $426.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $469.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $422.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $394.29.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

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.