Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 931 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 931 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $5,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Deere & Company by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $519.62 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $479.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $466.58. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $533.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 27.31%. The business had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.53 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on DE. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $495.00 to $556.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $455.00 to $493.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $515.19.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.