Vest Financial LLC Increases Stake in Deere & Company $DE

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,505 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $2,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DE. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $571,073,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 97.1% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 733,871 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $344,442,000 after purchasing an additional 361,526 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,876,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,227,258,000 after purchasing an additional 286,253 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,353,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $635,150,000 after purchasing an additional 256,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 874.8% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 243,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $124,028,000 after purchasing an additional 218,893 shares during the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $495.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $595.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $566.00 to $512.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $488.00 to $467.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $491.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.76.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $448.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.02. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $387.03 and a 12 month high of $533.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $476.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $487.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.33 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business’s revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.29 EPS. Analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.87%.

Deere & Company 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.