Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 58,290 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,500,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,290 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.65% of Corteva worth $256,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Corteva by 1,058.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 2,128 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Corteva by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 139,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Corteva by 20.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 12,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 2,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Corteva by 23.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 505,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,711,000 after purchasing an additional 94,689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CTVA. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.73.

Corteva Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of CTVA stock opened at $64.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.45. Corteva, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.01 and a fifty-two week high of $66.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.99 billion, a PE ratio of 49.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.51.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. Equities analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Corteva’s payout ratio is 52.71%.

Corteva declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.