Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.43.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CTVA. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Corteva in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $71.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus raised Corteva from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st.

Corteva Price Performance

CTVA stock opened at $62.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Corteva has a 1 year low of $50.01 and a 1 year high of $66.24. The stock has a market cap of $42.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.61.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. Research analysts anticipate that Corteva will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Corteva’s payout ratio is currently 52.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $1,692,934.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $723,257.78. This represents a 70.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Corteva

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Corteva in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,514,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Corteva by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,428,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,031,000 after buying an additional 525,531 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 51.9% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 695,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,624,000 after purchasing an additional 237,764 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 755.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 552,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,486,000 after buying an additional 488,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Corteva by 54.5% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 96,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,474,000 after acquiring an additional 33,886 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

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.