Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 656 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,570 shares of the company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Corteva were worth $2,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Corteva during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Corteva during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Corteva by 44.4% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 566 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Corteva during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in Corteva by 112.6% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Corteva Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE CTVA opened at $62.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $43.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.64, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.78. Corteva, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.01 and a 12 month high of $66.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.88.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. As a group, analysts forecast that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

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

Corteva declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 19th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CTVA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Corteva from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Corteva to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.73.

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.