Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,656 shares of the company’s stock after selling 432 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Corteva were worth $151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Corteva by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 48,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,850,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Corteva by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 28,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Corteva in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,239,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 288.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 64,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,797,000 after acquiring an additional 47,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Corteva Price Performance

CTVA opened at $62.65 on Thursday. Corteva, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.01 and a 12-month high of $66.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.12. The company has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.57, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.71%.

Corteva announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 19th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CTVA shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Corteva news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $1,692,934.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,257.78. This trade represents a 70.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Corteva

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.