BLB&B Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $11,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 155.8% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE DE opened at $465.63 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $445.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $412.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market cap of $126.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.98. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $485.84.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.20 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DE. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $444.50.

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.