Corteva, Inc. $CTVA Shares Sold by Grove Bank & Trust

Key Points

• Grove Bank & Trust dramatically reduced its holdings in Corteva, Inc. by 90.8%, retaining only 863 shares after selling 8,533 shares in the second quarter.
• Corteva reported a strong earnings performance, with an EPS of $2.20 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.89, and recorded a revenue increase of 5.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase, raising it from $0.17 to $0.18, which results in an annualized dividend of $0.72 and a dividend yield of 1.0%.

Grove Bank & Trust cut its stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 90.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 863 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,533 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust's holdings in Corteva were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Corteva by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,814,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,022,736,000 after buying an additional 639,799 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Corteva by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 16,785,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,056,299,000 after purchasing an additional 288,792 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Corteva by 1.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,759,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,041,000 after acquiring an additional 110,865 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Corteva in the first quarter worth about $640,333,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Corteva by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978,187 shares of the company's stock worth $426,088,000 after purchasing an additional 98,770 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Corteva Stock Performance

Shares of CTVA traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.84. The stock had a trading volume of 12,447,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,618,223. The firm has a market cap of $48.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.52. 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 posted its 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 firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert D. King sold 37,280 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total transaction of $2,766,176.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 49,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,655,240.40. The trade was a 43.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Corteva in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 price objective (up from $82.00) on shares of Corteva in a research report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Corteva from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Corteva and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Corteva from a "neutral" rating to a "mixed" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.00.

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.