Alberta Investment Management Corp Trims Stock Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Alberta Investment Management Corp cut its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,959 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $6,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 7.0% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,824,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.2% in the first quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 14,381 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,750,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.3% in the first quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 2,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.6% in the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 48,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,877,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 39.4% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 308,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $144,565,000 after buying an additional 87,091 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $495.00 to $556.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Melius raised shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $490.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $542.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $515.50.

Deere & Company Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $500.94 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $340.20 and a 12-month high of $533.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $135.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $512.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $486.99.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 24.39%. The company had revenue of $11.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.35%.

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.