SFE Investment Counsel Reduces Stock Holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

SFE Investment Counsel decreased its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Essex Savings Bank raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 5,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Deere & Company by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 6,016 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DE. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Melius downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

NYSE:DE traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $398.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 687,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,489,089. Deere & Company has a 12-month low of $345.55 and a 12-month high of $450.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $385.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $382.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $110.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.55 EPS. Deere & Company’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 27.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 1.48%. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

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.