Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Plans $1.62 Quarterly Dividend

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 1.62 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st.

Deere & Company has raised its dividend by an average of 15.6% annually over the last three years. Deere & Company has a dividend payout ratio of 29.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Deere & Company to earn $22.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.4%.

Deere & Company Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $465.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $439.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.22. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $340.20 and a fifty-two week high of $515.05. The company has a market cap of $126.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.01.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.05. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 12.94%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Deere & Company

In other news, insider Rajesh Kalathur sold 24,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.61, for a total transaction of $12,304,993.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,878 shares in the company, valued at $37,484,675.58. This trade represents a 24.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Deere & Company stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 39.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Deere & Company from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $501.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $437.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $510.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $460.00.

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.