LS Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

LS Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 725.0% during the first quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Centennial Bank AR boosted its position in Deere & Company by 420.0% in the 2nd quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. HSBC lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $360.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Deere & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $420.69.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.3 %

DE stock opened at $411.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $402.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $385.56. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $340.20 and a 12 month high of $420.47. The company has a market capitalization of $112.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 36.71% and a net margin of 14.69%. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $10.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 25 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.06%.

Deere & Company Company Profile

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.