Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Purchases New Shares in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,590,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DE. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Deere & Company by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,398,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in Deere & Company by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 3,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE stock opened at $520.72 on Thursday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $533.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $483.40 and a 200 day moving average of $467.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $141.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.09.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. The firm’s revenue was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on DE shares. Baird R W downgraded Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. 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 report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $462.00 to $440.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.