Traders Buy Large Volume of Corteva Put Options (NYSE:CTVA)

Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 13,745 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,279% compared to the typical daily volume of 997 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTVA. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Corteva in a report on Monday, August 11th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Corteva from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Corteva in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price target (up from $82.00) on shares of Corteva in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Corteva from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Robert D. King sold 37,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $2,766,176.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,262 shares in the company, valued at $3,655,240.40. The trade was a 43.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corteva

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladwyn Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Corteva in the second quarter worth $25,000. Total Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Corteva in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Curat Global LLC increased its stake in Corteva by 93.7% in the 2nd quarter. Curat Global LLC now owns 370 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Corteva in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Corteva during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of CTVA stock opened at $63.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.76. Corteva has a 1 year low of $53.40 and a 1 year high of $77.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.84.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.31. Corteva had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 8.16%.The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Corteva’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Corteva will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. This is a positive change from Corteva’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Corteva’s payout ratio is currently 35.12%.

Corteva Company Profile

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.