Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $587.74 and last traded at $586.12, with a volume of 1101765 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $583.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on DE. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $580.00 target price on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $543.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, December 1st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.20.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.5%

The firm has a market cap of $158.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $497.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $484.60.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($0.03). Deere & Company had a return on equity of 20.54% and a net margin of 11.00%.The company had revenue of $12.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.00, for a total value of $6,120,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,603,920. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 41,472 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.49, for a total transaction of $20,797,793.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 117,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,160,775.30. This trade represents a 26.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 64,578 shares of company stock valued at $32,471,682 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Deere & Company

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,583,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,514,053,000 after purchasing an additional 198,332 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,386,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,297,913,000 after purchasing an additional 64,262 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,233,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,850,687,000 after buying an additional 322,582 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,600,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,609,149,000 after buying an additional 17,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,578,243,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.