Trexquant Investment LP Makes New $6.02 Million Investment in Corteva, Inc. $CTVA

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has acquired 95,628 shares of Corteva, Inc., valued at approximately $6.02 million, during the first quarter of the year.
• Corteva recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.18, with a dividend yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 33.17%.
• The stock has received multiple upgrades from analysts, including a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $80.25.

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 95,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,018,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Corteva by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,761 shares of the company's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Corteva by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,353 shares of the company's stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. NTV Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Corteva by 3.3% during the first quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 5,457 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Corteva by 4.1% during the first quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Corteva by 1.4% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 12,867 shares of the company's stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CTVA. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Corteva in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Corteva from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays upgraded shares of 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, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Corteva in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Corteva from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.25.

Insider Activity

In other Corteva news, EVP Robert D. King sold 37,280 shares of Corteva stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $2,766,176.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,655,240.40. The trade was a 43.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Corteva Stock Performance

Shares of Corteva stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $72.24. 3,173,079 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,770,626. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.80. Corteva, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.40 and a 52-week high of $77.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.78.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.31. Corteva had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Corteva's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Corteva's dividend payout ratio is 35.12%.

Corteva Company 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.