Deere & Company Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.62 (NYSE:DE)

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 1.62 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, May 8th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st.

Deere & Company has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Deere & Company has a payout ratio of 29.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Deere & Company to earn $22.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.4%.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of DE traded down $2.85 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $620.76. 490,345 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,738,877. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.21. The company has a market cap of $168.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.97, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $531.78 and its 200-day moving average is $493.87. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $404.42 and a 52 week high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.50 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $765.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded Deere & Company from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $467.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $543.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $637.70.

Deere & Company 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.