Steele Capital Management Inc. Buys New Position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 9,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,937,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Deere & Company during the third quarter valued at about $213,000. Avestar Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in Deere & Company by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 4,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Deere & Company by 3.1% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 172,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $65,277,000 after buying an additional 5,196 shares during the period. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA lifted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 18,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,797,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Stock Performance

Shares of DE traded up $7.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $400.91. 847,074 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,465,234. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.05. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $345.55 and a 1 year high of $450.00. The stock has a market cap of $111.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $387.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $383.52.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.55 earnings per share. Deere & Company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 27.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DE shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $430.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Deere & Company from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Melius downgraded Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $445.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. 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 company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $433.28.

About Deere & Company

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.