Pettee Investors Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Pettee Investors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $1,244,094,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 61,215.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,753,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $822,781,000 after buying an additional 1,750,163 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $541,437,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 buying an additional 1,095,736 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased 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 buying an additional 1,039,395 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $508.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $137.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $512.51 and its 200 day moving average is $479.60. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $533.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.72 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.80 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 24.39%. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is 31.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on DE shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $501.00 to $514.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Melius raised shares of Deere & Company from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $455.00 to $493.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $515.50.

Deere & Company Profile

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.