Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Corteva, Inc. by 12.5%, now holding 32,699 shares valued at approximately $2,058,000.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Corteva, with ratings such as "overweight" and "buy," indicating a consensus target price of $79.50.
• Corteva recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.18, representing an annualized yield of 1.0%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,699 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,652 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Corteva were worth $2,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CTVA. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in Corteva in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Corteva by 85.9% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Corteva in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Corteva during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Corteva during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CTVA shares. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Corteva from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Corteva from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer set a $87.00 price objective on Corteva and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Corteva from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Corteva from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.50.

Corteva Stock Performance

NYSE CTVA opened at $70.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.75. The business's 50 day moving average is $73.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.51. Corteva, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.78 and a 12-month high of $77.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.31. Corteva had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 8.16%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. Corteva's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Corteva's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Corteva's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.46%.

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.

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