SFE Investment Counsel Reduces Stock Position in Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• SFE Investment Counsel sharply reduced its Deere position by 79.7% in the first quarter, leaving it with 834 shares worth about $470,000.
• Wall Street remains broadly constructive on Deere, with 14 Buy ratings and 9 Hold ratings; the consensus view is Moderate Buy and the average price target is $642.23.
• Deere posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, while also declaring a $1.62 quarterly dividend payable August 10 for a 1.1% annualized yield.

SFE Investment Counsel cut its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 79.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 834 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,265 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel's holdings in Deere & Company were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Portus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the first quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $680.00 target price (down from $715.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Deere & Company from $550.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Deere & Company from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $550.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Deere & Company from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $642.23.

Trending Headlines about Deere & Company

Here are the key news stories impacting Deere & Company this week:

• Positive Sentiment: D.A. Davidson’s new coverage on AGCO highlighted that weak farm conditions can still support equipment makers like Deere, reinforcing the view that replacement demand and pricing power may hold up better than expected for agricultural OEMs. Farming Is Terrible Right Now. That’s Good for Deere and AGCO Stocks.
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer was upbeat on Deere, calling the stock “incredible” and suggesting it still has room to go higher, which may help sentiment around the shares. Jim Cramer on Deere & Company: “The Stock Is Incredible, and It’s Not Done Going Higher”
• Neutral Sentiment: An analyst report on Deere was published, but no clear thesis or rating details were provided in the feed, so it is likely a limited near-term catalyst. Analyst Report: Deere & Co
• Negative Sentiment: Deere settled a right-to-repair dispute with the FTC, requiring it to provide farmers and independent repair providers the same repair resources as authorized dealers for 10 years. Investors may see this as a hit to Deere’s control over service revenue and after-sales economics. Deere settles right to repair dispute with FTC

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE stock traded down $5.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $587.36. 782,098 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,174,307. The firm has a market cap of $158.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $581.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $566.99. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $433.00 and a 1-year high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $13.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.64 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 18.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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