Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,620,000 shares, a decrease of 5.2% from the May 31st total of 3,820,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $456.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $385.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $427.66.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE opened at $362.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market cap of $99.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $383.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $386.94. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $353.15 and a 12-month high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.86 by $0.67. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. The business had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 25.59 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,725,268.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1,180.0% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 725.0% during the first quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.