Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Trading Down 1.4%

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) shares fell 1.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $393.60 and last traded at $395.34. 190,890 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,449,519 shares. The stock had previously closed at $400.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $425.00 to $401.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Melius lowered Deere & Company from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Melius Research reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $435.00 to $425.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $433.28.

Deere & Company Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $389.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $383.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.55 earnings per share. Deere & Company's quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Deere & Company

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in Deere & Company by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,355 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,141,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 236,696 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $89,322,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 14,002 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,284,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management bought a new position in Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at about $2,640,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Deere & Company by 483.3% during the third quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 17,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,604,000 after buying an additional 14,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.58% of the company's stock.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.