Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) Stake Lowered by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Valmark Advisers Inc. decreased its stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,056 shares of the company’s stock after selling 217 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Corteva were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Corteva in the 3rd quarter valued at about $99,869,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 6.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,788,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $860,746,000 after buying an additional 856,007 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Corteva by 267.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,120,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,851,000 after buying an additional 815,135 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Corteva by 2.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Corteva by 176.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 934,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,954,000 after acquiring an additional 596,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CTVA. Citigroup increased their price target on Corteva from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Corteva to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Corteva presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.73.

Corteva Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CTVA opened at $64.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Corteva, Inc. has a one year low of $50.01 and a one year high of $66.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.58. The company has a market capitalization of $44.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. Analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio is 52.71%.

Corteva declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 19th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Corteva Profile

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.