Citigroup Initiates Coverage on Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Analysts at Citigroup started coverage on shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 6.91% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on DE. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $456.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $385.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $431.14.

Deere & Company Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:DE opened at $369.46 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $101.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $386.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $387.08. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $353.15 and a 52-week high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,249,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 30.3% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,559 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 4,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in Deere & Company by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Deere & Company by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 54,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,625,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

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.