Short Interest in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Increases By 7.9%

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,340,000 shares, an increase of 7.9% from the December 15th total of 4,950,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DE traded up $17.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $456.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,315,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,286. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $340.20 and a twelve month high of $469.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $431.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $402.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Centennial Bank AR grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 420.0% in the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 155.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DE. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, December 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $442.83.

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.