JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) to "Overweight"

Key Points

• Corteva's stock rating was upgraded from "neutral" to "overweight" by JPMorgan Chase & Co., which set a price target of $70.00, indicating a potential upside of 14% from its current price.
• Additional analysts have also issued positive ratings, with UBS Group raising its price target to $91.00, while the average price target across analyst reports stands at $80.36.
• In its most recent quarterly report, Corteva posted earnings per share of $2.20, exceeding consensus estimates by $0.31, along with a revenue of $6.46 billion.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $67.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective points to a potential upside of 9.11% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on CTVA. BMO Capital Markets set a $86.00 target price on shares of Corteva in a report on Monday, September 15th. Oppenheimer set a $87.00 target price on shares of Corteva and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Corteva in a report on Friday, June 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Corteva from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.36.

Corteva Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CTVA opened at $61.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $41.70 billion, a PE ratio of 29.95, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $71.64 and a 200 day moving average of $68.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.68. Corteva has a one year low of $53.40 and a one year high of $77.41.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.31. Corteva had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Corteva will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Corteva news, EVP Robert D. King sold 37,280 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $2,766,176.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,655,240.40. This represents a 43.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Corteva

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Corteva during the second quarter worth about $505,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its stake in Corteva by 20.7% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 90,206 shares of the company's stock worth $5,677,000 after purchasing an additional 15,448 shares during the period. PGGM Investments increased its stake in Corteva by 68.5% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,223,444 shares of the company's stock worth $91,183,000 after purchasing an additional 497,200 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Corteva by 28.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,851,993 shares of the company's stock worth $179,476,000 after buying an additional 634,938 shares during the period. Finally, S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Corteva by 70.3% during the second quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 164,393 shares of the company's stock worth $12,252,000 after buying an additional 67,869 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.