Advisors Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Corteva, Inc. $CTVA

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Corteva, Inc. by 15.1%, selling 7,621 shares and holding 42,824 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million.
• Corteva's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with revenue of $6.46 billion, up 5.6% year-over-year, and earnings per share of $2.20.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.18 per share, scheduled for payment on September 15th, reflecting a commitment to return value to shareholders.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 15.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,824 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,621 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Corteva were worth $2,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CTVA. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Corteva during the 1st quarter worth approximately $640,333,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Corteva by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,009,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,219,000 after buying an additional 1,769,355 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Corteva by 65.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,251,449 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,009 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 7,135.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 947,789 shares of the company's stock worth $59,644,000 after purchasing an additional 934,690 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Corteva by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,052,081 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,807,000 after purchasing an additional 703,761 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Corteva

In other news, EVP Robert D. King sold 37,280 shares of the business'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,262 shares in the company, valued at $3,655,240.40. The trade was a 43.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Corteva Stock Performance

CTVA stock traded up $2.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $75.07. The stock had a trading volume of 6,598,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,369,057. The stock's 50 day moving average is $73.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $50.98 billion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.78. Corteva, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.40 and a 52 week high of $77.41.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Corteva's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Corteva's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CTVA. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on Corteva from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer set a $87.00 price target on Corteva and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Corteva from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Corteva from a "neutral" rating to a "mixed" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.25.

Corteva Profile

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.