Conning Inc. Grows Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Conning Inc. raised its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 19.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 725.0% in the 1st quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the second quarter worth $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Centennial Bank AR increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 420.0% in the 2nd quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DE. HSBC cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Deere & Company from $465.00 to $448.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $420.69.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE opened at $400.42 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $400.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $385.41. The firm has a market cap of $109.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $420.47.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.63 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $10.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 20.06%.

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.