Short Interest in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) Declines By 20.6%

Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,420,000 shares, a decrease of 20.6% from the April 30th total of 9,340,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Corteva from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Corteva from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Corteva in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.50.

Corteva Stock Performance

NYSE CTVA traded up $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $71.23. 3,467,797 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,310,341. Corteva has a fifty-two week low of $50.01 and a fifty-two week high of $71.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $48.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.80.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.56 billion. Corteva had a return on equity of 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. Corteva's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Corteva will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Corteva's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corteva

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Corteva by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,605,608 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,764,000 after buying an additional 288,885 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Corteva by 307.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,588 shares of the company's stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 11,760 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Corteva by 86.0% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 17,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 8,238 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Corteva in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Corteva by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,282 shares of the company's stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Corteva

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.