Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Short Interest Up 7.9% in January

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

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE traded up $3.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $470.35. 153,750 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,324,516. Deere & Company has a one year low of $340.20 and a one year high of $485.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $444.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $410.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09.

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

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. 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. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

Institutional Trading of Deere & Company

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,352,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,068,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,782,984 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,542,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,518,000 after acquiring an additional 988,380 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 53,338.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 854,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $356,602,000 after acquiring an additional 852,885 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 46,892.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 772,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $322,218,000 after acquiring an additional 770,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stockbridge Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,019,000 after buying an additional 540,874 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $470.00 to $430.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $444.50.

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.