Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,654 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,222 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Corteva were worth $3,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CTVA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,605,608 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,764,000 after purchasing an additional 288,885 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 4,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 13,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.54% of the company's stock.

Corteva Stock Performance

CTVA traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $69.07. 2,541,502 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,295,948. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $62.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Corteva, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.01 and a 1-year high of $69.42.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 7.19% and a net margin of 5.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Corteva's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CTVA. BNP Paribas raised Corteva to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Corteva from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on Corteva from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Corteva from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $70.50.

Corteva 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.