Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets set a $86.00 price target on shares of Corteva in a research note on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Corteva from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Corteva from $86.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Corteva from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Corteva from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.31.

Corteva Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE CTVA opened at $61.93 on Friday. Corteva has a 1-year low of $53.40 and a 1-year high of $77.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $42.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.02.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.31. Corteva had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Corteva’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Corteva will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Corteva’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert D. King sold 37,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.20, for a total value of $2,766,176.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,655,240.40. This trade represents a 43.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corteva

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CTVA. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Corteva by 307.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 11,760 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 15.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 5.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 136,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,567,000 after buying an additional 6,814 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 26.1% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corteva by 5.0% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 120,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,596,000 after buying an additional 5,748 shares during the period. 81.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.