Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes Position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 71,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,073,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Corteva by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,428,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,031,000 after buying an additional 525,531 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Corteva by 51.9% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 695,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,624,000 after purchasing an additional 237,764 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Corteva by 755.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 552,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,486,000 after purchasing an additional 488,181 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Corteva by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,605,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,764,000 after purchasing an additional 288,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Corteva by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 13,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CTVA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Corteva from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on Corteva from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on Corteva from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on Corteva from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.50.

Corteva Price Performance

CTVA opened at $68.29 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Corteva, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.01 and a 1 year high of $69.28. The firm has a market cap of $46.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.94, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.72.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.25. Corteva had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Corteva’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.46%.

Insider Transactions at Corteva

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of Corteva stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $1,692,934.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $723,257.78. This trade represents a 70.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Company Profile

Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics.