Swedbank AB Grows Stock Position in Deere & Company $DE

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Deere & Company by 2.9%, bringing its total to 294,851 shares valued at approximately $149.9 million.
• Deere & Company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.75, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.62, although revenue decreased by 9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.62 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.4%, scheduled for payment on November 10th.

Swedbank AB increased its stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 294,851 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 8,288 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.11% of Deere & Company worth $149,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 58.9% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,625 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,395,000 after purchasing an additional 5,053 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 10.7% in the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 8,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,863,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Deere & Company by 2.1% in the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,639 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,871,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 12.7% during the first quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 7,213 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,386,000 after buying an additional 813 shares during the period. Finally, ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the first quarter valued at approximately $13,588,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of Deere & Company stock opened at $468.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $494.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $490.02. The firm has a market cap of $126.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.00. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $387.03 and a 12 month high of $533.78.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The industrial products company reported $4.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.33 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DE shares. Melius Research raised Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Deere & Company from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $460.00 target price (up from $425.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $595.00 to $580.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Deere & Company from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $520.87.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts.

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