Principal Securities Inc. Grows Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,329 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DE. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC increased its position in Deere & Company by 157.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth $254,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 53.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Up 4.4 %

DE opened at $501.40 on Wednesday. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $502.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $447.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $417.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market cap of $136.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 31.32%. Sell-side analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $450.12.

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.