Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $433.28.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DE. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Melius cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 target price for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deere & Company

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,920,548,000 after purchasing an additional 65,006 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 6.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,374,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,650,767,000 after acquiring an additional 269,571 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,541,967,000 after acquiring an additional 705,771 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 104,373.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,219,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,380,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216,801 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $1,248,036,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE DE opened at $400.87 on Friday. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $345.55 and a 1-year high of $450.00. The company has a market cap of $111.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $385.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $382.79.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.