Swedbank AB Lowers Stake in Deere & Company $DE

Swedbank AB lessened its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 11.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 218,796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 29,483 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $123,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its stake in Deere & Company by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 10,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd LLC now owns 85,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,737,000 after acquiring an additional 30,553 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 78.6% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,224,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 7.6% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,651,982 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $755,385,000 after acquiring an additional 115,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eldred Rock Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at $13,166,000. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $602.62 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $580.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $565.13. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $433.00 and a 52-week high of $674.19. The company has a market cap of $162.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.14, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

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

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $625.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $775.00 to $685.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $752.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $642.23.

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.