Short Interest in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Rises By 5.1%

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,360,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the January 15th total of 5,100,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on DE. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $546.00 price target (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $450.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,244,094,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 32.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth about $541,437,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,792,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,581,408 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,364,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,395 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Up 4.4 %

DE stock traded up $21.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $501.40. 2,367,575 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,455,526. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $502.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $447.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $417.69. The company has a market capitalization of $136.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

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.