Ellsworth Advisors LLC Invests $4.54 Million in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,362 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,000. Deere & Company comprises approximately 1.4% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Deere & Company by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 53,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,776 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.6% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 135,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,775,000 after buying an additional 7,182 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 2.4% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 236,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,322,000 after buying 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 third 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 period. Finally, Greenline Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company in the second quarter worth about $265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on DE shares. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $494.00 target price for the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $450.00 to $435.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Melius cut shares of Deere & Company from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Deere & Company from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $431.69.

Deere & Company Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE DE traded up $1.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $410.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,426,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,207. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $345.55 and a 1-year high of $450.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $380.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $381.52.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $1.04. Deere & Company had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 27.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be given a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio is 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.