Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $390.01 Million Stake in Deere & Company $DE

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 692,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 81,706 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $390,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Portus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Deere & Company from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $550.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $642.23.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $586.06 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $581.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $568.53. The firm has a market cap of $158.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $433.00 and a 1 year high of $674.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 18.13 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 36.71%.

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.