National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 46,476 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 35.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 46,476 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $70,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Deere & Company in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Deere & Company Price Performance

Shares of DE stock traded up $5.00 on Friday, hitting $400.96. 1,626,960 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,337,641. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $345.55 and a 12 month high of $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $391.45 and a 200 day moving average of $383.87. The stock has a market cap of $111.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 27.37 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $494.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.