Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $433.28.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DE. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Melius downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE opened at $400.87 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $385.47 and its 200 day moving average is $382.79. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $345.55 and a 12-month high of $450.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $111.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The business’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.6% during the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 981 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 5,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company 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.