Calton & Associates Inc. Grows Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Calton & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Calton & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $1,535,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 5,284 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,239,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Busey Bank boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Busey Bank now owns 7,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,057,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE opened at $479.91 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $443.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $408.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $130.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $485.84.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.26 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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 increased their target price 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $444.50.

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.