SouthState Corp Cuts Stock Position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

SouthState Corp cut its position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,823 shares of the company’s stock after selling 596 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Corteva were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Corteva during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $161,052,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Corteva during the 3rd quarter valued at $99,869,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Corteva by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,788,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $860,746,000 after purchasing an additional 856,007 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Corteva by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,290,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,015,914,000 after buying an additional 768,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Corteva by 176.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 934,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,954,000 after buying an additional 596,073 shares in the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Corteva in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $71.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian Titus sold 26,560 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total transaction of $1,692,934.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $723,257.78. This represents a 70.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Corteva Trading Up 3.1 %

Corteva stock opened at $61.67 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $42.28 billion, a PE ratio of 47.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.74. Corteva, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.01 and a 12 month high of $66.24.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. Analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.71%.

Corteva declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Corteva

Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics.