Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 1,281 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,088 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Corteva were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Corteva by 69.7% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 26,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 10,887 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Corteva by 5.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 137,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,420,000 after purchasing an additional 6,705 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 8.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after buying an additional 2,195 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Corteva by 62.8% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,444,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,931,000 after buying an additional 557,571 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CTVA. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $69.00) on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Corteva from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Corteva from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.24.

Corteva Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE CTVA opened at $65.06 on Thursday. Corteva, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.46 and a 1-year high of $65.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.69. The company has a market cap of $44.72 billion, a PE ratio of 65.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Corteva’s payout ratio is 68.69%.

Corteva declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 19th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.