Plato Investment Management Ltd Has $1.86 Million Stock Holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,459 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Corteva were worth $1,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Corteva during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Corteva during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Corteva during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Corteva during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Corteva during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of Corteva stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $1,692,934.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $723,257.78. The trade was a 70.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Corteva Stock Performance

Corteva stock opened at $60.28 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.38. Corteva, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.01 and a 12-month high of $66.24. The stock has a market cap of $41.33 billion, a PE ratio of 46.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. As a group, analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Corteva Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Corteva’s payout ratio is 52.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CTVA shares. BNP Paribas raised Corteva to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.79.

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.