J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. Takes Position in Deere & Company $DE

J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,715,633,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,592,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,465,906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,358,264 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Deere & Company by 1,725.8% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,003,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $932,870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,972 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 1,199.8% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,864,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $868,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,436,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,134,465,000 after purchasing an additional 597,087 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $540.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $639.58.

Deere & Company Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of DE stock opened at $590.37 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $433.00 and a 1 year high of $674.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $573.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $552.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 18.13 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.71%.

Deere & Company Profile

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.