IFG Advisory LLC Makes New Investment in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

IFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $1,248,036,000. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,541,967,000 after acquiring an additional 705,771 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the first quarter worth about $191,628,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,031,500,000 after acquiring an additional 263,709 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 3,064.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 175,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,038,000 after acquiring an additional 169,843 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $483.00 to $465.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Deere & Company from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $414.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.0 %

DE stock opened at $385.74 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $423.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $367.94 and its 200-day moving average is $379.78.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. Deere & Company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.70%.

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.