Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $409.88.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DE shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. HSBC downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $375.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $394.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.92. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $417.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $371.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $381.63.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 36.71%. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $10.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,988,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,031,500,000 after buying an additional 263,709 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,859,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,585,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,200 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Deere & Company by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,967,000 after buying an additional 705,771 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $1,248,036,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,254,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $842,259,000 after buying an additional 60,255 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.