Hodges Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DLK Investment Management LLC raised its position in Deere & Company by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 8,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,479,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Round Rock Advisors LLC lifted its position in Deere & Company by 2.0% in the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $444.50.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $467.07 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $485.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $444.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $410.23. The firm has a market cap of $127.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

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.