Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $443.94.

A number of research firms recently commented on DE. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Deere & Company by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,208,368 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,168,737,000 after buying an additional 31,459 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 27.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,518,000 after buying an additional 988,380 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Deere & Company by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,254,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $842,259,000 after acquiring an additional 60,255 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,146,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $802,037,000 after acquiring an additional 279,627 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $433.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $117.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $425.53 and a 200-day moving average of $396.49. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $469.39.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.26 EPS. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.