Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Raises Stake in Deere & Company $DE

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 813 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $3,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Deere & Company by 58.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,395,000 after buying an additional 5,053 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its stake in Deere & Company by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 8,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,863,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,871,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $13,588,000. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $2,496,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Melius Research raised shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI set a $491.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $566.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $523.87.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Deere & Company stock opened at $486.3440 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $373.55 and a 52 week high of $533.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $508.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $490.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.06.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.13. Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 33.87%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.