Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Purchases New Shares in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Key Points

• Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. purchased 529 shares of Deere & Company valued at approximately $248,000 in the first quarter.
• Deere & Company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, significantly beating analysts' estimates of $5.72, with revenue of $11.17 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 529 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 61,215.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,753,022 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $822,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,750,163 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at about $541,437,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $571,073,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,792,082,000 after buying an additional 1,095,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at about $255,686,000. 68.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE stock traded up $9.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $488.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,673,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,318,860. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $489.97. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $371.16 and a 52 week high of $533.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $4.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.33 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 11.72%. The business's revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on DE shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $542.00 price objective on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Melius Research upgraded Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Deere & Company from $619.00 to $602.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $521.47.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.