SFE Investment Counsel Invests $529,000 in Deere & Company $DE

SFE Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $529,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company in the second quarter valued at about $702,000. Phillips Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter worth about $506,000. Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter worth about $672,000. Everett Harris & Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter valued at about $1,385,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the second quarter valued at about $458,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $590.00 to $570.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $752.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, June 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $641.98.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:DE opened at $608.73 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $433.00 and a 12-month high of $674.19. The company has a market capitalization of $164.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $603.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $587.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.64 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 18.26 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.71%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.