Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) Plans $1.62 Quarterly Dividend

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 1.62 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, May 8th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st.

Deere & Company has raised its dividend by an average of 0.2%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Deere & Company has a payout ratio of 29.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Deere & Company to earn $22.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.4%.

Deere & Company Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE DE traded down $3.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $620.36. 415,085 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,737,143. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.21. The business’s 50-day moving average is $531.78 and its 200-day moving average is $493.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.02. Deere & Company has a twelve month low of $404.42 and a twelve month high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.52. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 10.29%.The company had revenue of $9.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 19.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $502.00 to $672.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Deere & Company from $560.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Deere & Company from $521.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Deere & Company from $515.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $637.70.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company, commonly known by its brand John Deere, is a global manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, as well as turf care equipment and power systems. Founded in 1837 by blacksmith John Deere—who developed a polished steel plow to improve tillage in tough prairie soils—the company is headquartered in Moline, Illinois, and has grown into one of the largest and most recognizable names in equipment manufacturing worldwide.

The company’s principal businesses include a broad portfolio of agricultural equipment such as tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, harvesters and tillage implements, complemented by precision agriculture technologies and telematics that support farm management, yield optimization and equipment connectivity.