Deere & Company $DE Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,498 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,974 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $66,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Deere & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $759.00 to $812.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $642.98.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE opened at $586.13 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $582.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $572.84. The firm has a market cap of $158.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $433.00 and a 12-month high of $674.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.70 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 18.13 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 36.71%.

Deere & Company Profile

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.