Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $390.01 Million Stock Position in Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group reduced its Deere stake by 10.6% in the first quarter, selling 81,706 shares but still holding 692,370 shares worth about $390 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Deere, with 14 Buy ratings and 9 Hold ratings; the consensus view is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $642.23.
• Deere recently beat quarterly expectations, posting $6.55 EPS on $13.37 billion in revenue, and it announced a $1.62 quarterly dividend payable August 10.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 692,370 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 81,706 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.26% of Deere & Company worth $390,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,145 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 863 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Triglav Investments D.O.O. grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 2.7% during the first quarter. Triglav Investments D.O.O. now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,584,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Deere & Company by 25.4% during the first quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,630 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company during the first quarter worth approximately $60,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $759.00 to $812.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Deere & Company from $530.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $752.00 price target on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, June 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $680.00 price objective (down from $715.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $625.00 to $595.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $642.23.

Deere & Company Trading Down 0.1%

DE stock opened at $586.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.18. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $581.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.53. Deere & Company has a 52 week low of $433.00 and a 52 week high of $674.19. The company has a market capitalization of $158.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The firm had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company's payout ratio is currently 36.71%.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company's principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.

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