Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $460.00.

DE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Argus set a $510.00 price target on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE stock opened at $430.25 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $515.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $476.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $442.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $116.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. Analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 28.72%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In related news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DE. Pineridge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.