LPL Financial LLC Buys 46,218 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Corteva, Inc. by 6.9%, acquiring an additional 46,218 shares to bring its total holdings to 713,729 shares, valued at approximately $44.9 million.
• Corteva recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, representing an increase from the previous dividend of $0.17, with a dividend yield of 1.0%.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their target prices for Corteva shares, with Wells Fargo & Company increasing its target from $79.00 to $82.00, reflecting strong confidence in the company's future performance.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 713,729 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,218 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.10% of Corteva worth $44,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Corteva during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Corteva in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Corteva in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Corteva during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CTVA. Citigroup increased their price target on Corteva from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer set a $87.00 target price on shares of Corteva and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Corteva in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Corteva from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Corteva has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.25.

Corteva Trading Down 1.4%

CTVA traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.14. The stock had a trading volume of 4,770,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,786,311. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $73.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.75. Corteva, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.30 and a 52 week high of $77.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.25. Corteva had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 6.77%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a boost from Corteva's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Corteva's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.90%.

Corteva Company Profile

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.