Stonegate Investment Group LLC Increases Stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 104,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,430 shares during the period. Deere & Company makes up about 1.3% of Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $42,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,089,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,920,548,000 after acquiring an additional 65,006 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,374,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,650,767,000 after acquiring an additional 269,571 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 3,856,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,967,000 after acquiring an additional 705,771 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,248,036,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,061,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,155,430,000 after acquiring an additional 73,601 shares during the period. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE DE traded down $9.55 on Tuesday, reaching $391.41. 973,933 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,459,829. Deere & Company has a one year low of $345.55 and a one year high of $450.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $389.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $383.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DE. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $433.28.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.