M&T Bank Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,520 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $71,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE opened at $432.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $423.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $394.74. The company has a market cap of $117.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $469.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DE shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $443.94.

Deere & 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.