Hartford Investment Management Co. Trims Stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,479 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,120 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Corteva were worth $2,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Corteva in the third quarter worth about $99,869,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,788,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $860,746,000 after purchasing an additional 856,007 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Corteva by 267.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,120,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,851,000 after purchasing an additional 815,135 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Corteva by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,290,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,015,914,000 after purchasing an additional 768,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Corteva by 176.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 934,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,954,000 after buying an additional 596,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Corteva from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.73.

Corteva Stock Up 1.4 %

Corteva stock opened at $62.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $43.23 billion, a PE ratio of 48.76, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78. Corteva, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.01 and a fifty-two week high of $66.24.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. Equities analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.71%.

Corteva announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 19th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Corteva Company Profile

Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics.