Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 4,760 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Key Points

• Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. sold 4,760 shares of Corteva, Inc., lowering its stake by 1.3% during the first quarter, now holding 358,460 shares worth approximately $22.56 million.
• Corteva reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.13, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.88, but experienced a 1.7% decline in year-over-year revenue.
• The company's stock has a current market capitalization of $49.88 billion and an average price target of $77.38, with the majority of analysts rating it as a "Moderate Buy."

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 358,460 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,760 shares during the quarter. Corteva accounts for 3.2% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.05% of Corteva worth $22,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Corteva by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 73,960 shares of the company's stock worth $4,654,000 after purchasing an additional 6,122 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Corteva by 9.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 128,585 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,092,000 after buying an additional 11,152 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Corteva by 4.7% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,821 shares of the company's stock worth $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Corteva by 2.6% in the first quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,051 shares of the company's stock worth $695,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel purchased a new position in Corteva in the first quarter worth $333,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.54% of the company's stock.

Corteva Stock Down 1.0%

CTVA stock opened at $73.13 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.59, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.76. Corteva, Inc. has a one year low of $50.30 and a one year high of $77.41.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.56 billion. Corteva had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 6.77%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Corteva's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Corteva in a research report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Corteva from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Corteva from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Corteva from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Corteva from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Corteva has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.38.

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.

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