Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) is Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board has reduced its stake in Deere & Company by 15.7%, now holding 544,528 shares, which represents 3.8% of its investment portfolio.
• Deere & Company's latest quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $6.64, surpassing expectations and marking a 12.40% net margin despite a 17.9% revenue drop compared to the previous year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.62, yielding 1.3% annually, with a payout ratio of 31.35%.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board decreased its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 15.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 544,528 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 101,367 shares during the period. Deere & Company accounts for 3.8% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned about 0.20% of Deere & Company worth $255,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Deere & Company by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,063,590 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,355,546,000 after buying an additional 185,671 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,589,760 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,792,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Deere & Company by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,058,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,566,884,000 after purchasing an additional 157,224 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,915,729 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,235,394,000 after purchasing an additional 330,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,587,065 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,096,179,000 after buying an additional 184,203 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on DE. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $460.00 price target (up from $425.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $455.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Deere & Company from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Melius raised shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $515.50.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.3%

DE opened at $509.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $512.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $488.40. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $343.38 and a twelve month high of $533.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $0.92. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 24.39% and a net margin of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $11.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.53 EPS. The company's revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

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.

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