Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 929,815 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,807 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $393,963,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE opened at $480.17 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The company has a market cap of $130.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a 52-week low of $340.20 and a 52-week high of $485.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $446.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $416.52.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. Equities 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were 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 dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $546.00 price objective (down previously from $550.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, December 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $450.12.

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.