Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Short Interest Up 16.5% in July

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,750,000 shares, a growth of 16.5% from the July 15th total of 3,220,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE DE traded up $4.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $377.92. 2,103,088 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,549,985. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $425.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $367.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $380.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.93.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 42.26%. The company had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 25.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $383.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Raymond James assumed coverage on Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $422.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total transaction of $5,048,913.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $628,105,000 after purchasing an additional 31,074 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 857.9% during the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 7,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,061,000 after purchasing an additional 6,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at $2,783,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.