Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Southeast Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 56.7% in Q1, owning 4,205 shares valued at approximately $1.97 million.
• Institutional investors hold 68.58% of Deere's stock, with notable increases from Vanguard Group and GAMMA Investing LLC.
• Deere reported a quarterly EPS of $4.75, exceeding estimates and had a 9% year-over-year revenue decline.

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 56.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,205 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $1,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DE. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,502 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,630,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.5% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 107,505 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the first quarter worth about $4,160,000. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its position in Deere & Company by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 279,726 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $131,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 9,648 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,528,000 after buying an additional 1,889 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Deere & Company from $495.00 to $556.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Melius Research raised Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Deere & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $523.87.

Deere & Company Trading Up 1.2%

DE stock traded up $5.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $493.44. The company had a trading volume of 912,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,488,387. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.19 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $374.46 and a 52 week high of $533.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $507.17 and a 200 day moving average of $490.91. The company has a market cap of $133.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.06.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $4.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is currently 33.87%.

Deere & 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.