57,537 Shares in Corteva, Inc. $CTVA Bought by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Corteva, Inc. valued at approximately $3.62 million, acquiring 57,537 shares during the first quarter.
• Corteva reported a net margin of 8.16% and a revenue of $6.46 billion for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.18 per share, marking a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.17.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 57,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,621,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 307.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 11,760 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corteva during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 117,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,689,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 60,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 3,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corteva during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,007,000. Institutional investors own 81.54% of the company's stock.

Corteva Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CTVA traded up $2.08 during midday 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 has a 50-day moving average of $73.07 and a 200-day moving average of $68.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $50.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.78. Corteva, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.40 and a 12-month high of $77.41.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.26 billion. Corteva had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Corteva's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Corteva's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert D. King sold 37,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,655,240.40. This represents a 43.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CTVA shares. Citigroup cut shares of Corteva from a "neutral" rating to a "mixed" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Corteva to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $82.00) on shares of Corteva in a report on Friday, August 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.25.

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.