Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Takes $361,000 Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Outfitter Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Deere & Company by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 4,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new position in Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. HCR Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,300,000. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Deere & Company by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 773.4% during the third quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 4,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on DE shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Melius cut Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $433.28.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

DE traded down $9.55 on Tuesday, reaching $391.41. 973,933 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,459,829. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $389.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $383.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. Deere & Company has a fifty-two week low of $345.55 and a fifty-two week high of $450.00.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $1.04. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.30 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 44.60% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 27.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.12%.

Deere & 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.