Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC Boosts Stake in Deere & Company $DE

Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Deere & Company accounts for 3.6% of Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $31,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $1,715,633,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased 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 valued at $932,870,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,972 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,721,239 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Deere & Company by 278.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 487,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,005,000 after acquiring an additional 358,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Deere & Company by 21.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,815,007 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $829,930,000 after acquiring an additional 323,512 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on DE shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $535.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $752.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $680.00 price target (down from $715.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $638.08.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE opened at $541.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $571.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $542.99. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $433.00 and a 52-week high of $674.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.92.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 10.09%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.64 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 18.08 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. 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 1.2%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 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.