Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Receives $650.95 Average Target Price from Analysts

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $655.45.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $765.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Deere & Company from $675.00 to $580.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $603.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $433.00 and a twelve month high of $674.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $593.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $518.64. The stock has a market cap of $162.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The company had revenue of $9.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 36.53%.

Insider Activity at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total transaction of $6,120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,920. This represents a 36.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DE. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Deere & Company by 30.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 364,103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,143,000 after acquiring an additional 85,351 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in Deere & Company by 84.9% in the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 7,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,402,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416 shares in the last quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the second quarter worth $3,615,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 66.1% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 27,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,606,000 after purchasing an additional 10,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 263.8% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,942,000 after purchasing an additional 12,551 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.