Short Interest in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Increases By 14.1%

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, an increase of 14.1% from the June 15th total of 3,620,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on DE shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Citigroup started coverage on Deere & Company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $395.00 price target for the company. Raymond James started coverage on Deere & Company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Deere & Company from $385.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report 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 MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $427.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1,180.0% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 725.0% in the first quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock traded up $7.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $385.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,528,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,511,270. Deere & Company has a one year low of $345.93 and a one year high of $450.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $376.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $384.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $106.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.93.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The industrial products company reported $8.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.86 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 17.70%.

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.