Staley Capital Advisers Inc. Sells 14,237 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Key Points

• Staley Capital Advisers Inc. reduced its stake in Corteva, Inc. by 2.5% during the first quarter, now holding 545,045 shares, which represents 1.6% of its total portfolio.
• Corteva recently reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing analyst estimates and showing a 5.6% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.18 per share, reflecting a yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 33.17%.

Staley Capital Advisers Inc. cut its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 545,045 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,237 shares during the period. Corteva accounts for approximately 1.6% of Staley Capital Advisers Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Corteva worth $34,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in Corteva by 106.2% in the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 9,946 shares of the company's stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 5,123 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Corteva in the first quarter worth approximately $640,333,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its stake in Corteva by 1.5% in the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 44,650 shares of the company's stock worth $2,797,000 after buying an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Corteva in the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Covington Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Corteva by 2.4% in the first quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 111,693 shares of the company's stock worth $7,029,000 after buying an additional 2,608 shares in the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CTVA shares. Wall Street Zen raised Corteva from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Corteva from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barclays raised Corteva from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Corteva from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.25.

Corteva Trading Down 0.0%

CTVA stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 847,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,800,318. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.74. Corteva, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.59 and a 1 year high of $77.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.04, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.75.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Corteva had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 8.16%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from Corteva's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Corteva's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.17%.

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.