Everence Capital Management Inc. Buys 7,300 Shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 148.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $5,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DE. Stockbridge Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 157.5% in the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 884,237 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $369,019,000 after buying an additional 540,874 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 86,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 20.5% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,808 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,906,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 53.8% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC bought a new position in Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $710,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Up 1.0 %

DE stock traded up $4.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $422.22. 875,046 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 940,173. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $469.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $427.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $398.30. The firm has a market cap of $114.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.98.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The industrial products company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.66. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 13.73%. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.26 earnings per share. Deere & Company's revenue for the quarter was down 32.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This is a positive change from Deere & Company's previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Deere & Company's payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on DE shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $538.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $443.94.

Deere & Company Profile

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.