Jennison Associates LLC Raises Position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 244,408 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,155 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Corteva were worth $13,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Corteva by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,290,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,015,914,000 after buying an additional 768,519 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Corteva by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,703,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,505,000 after purchasing an additional 355,206 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Corteva by 6.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,788,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $860,746,000 after purchasing an additional 856,007 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in Corteva by 1.4% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 14,362,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,360,000 after purchasing an additional 200,917 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,747,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,863,000 after purchasing an additional 203,126 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Corteva Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE CTVA opened at $63.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.26, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.78. Corteva, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.01 and a 1 year high of $66.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.07.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last announced its 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 net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 6.63%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.69%.

Corteva declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 19th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTVA has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Corteva from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Corteva from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.06.

Corteva Company Profile

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.