Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $443.94.

Several brokerages have weighed in on DE. UBS Group boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Deere & Company from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the third quarter worth $32,000. Centennial Bank AR raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 420.0% during the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 155.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc increased its stake in Deere & Company by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc now owns 118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE opened at $432.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $423.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $395.52. The company has a market capitalization of $117.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $469.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

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

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.62 dividend. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.