Deere & Company (DE) & Its Rivals Head to Head Contrast

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) is one of 436 publicly-traded companies in the “Machinery” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Deere & Company to similar companies based on the strength of its valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Deere & Company and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Deere & Company	$46.88 billion	$5.03 billion	37.50
Deere & Company Competitors	$4.76 billion	$363.05 million	3.58

Deere & Company has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Deere & Company is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

68.6% of Deere & Company shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.7% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Deere & Company shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.2% of shares of all “Machinery” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Deere & Company has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Deere & Company’s competitors have a beta of 4.69, meaning that their average stock price is 369% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Deere & Company and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Deere & Company	10.16%	18.10%	4.60%
Deere & Company Competitors	-1,044.47%	-15.12%	0.54%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Deere & Company and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Deere & Company	0	8	17	0	2.68
Deere & Company Competitors	4190	14674	18172	803	2.41

Deere & Company presently has a consensus price target of $688.10, suggesting a potential upside of 1.94%. As a group, “Machinery” companies have a potential upside of 32.71%. Given Deere & Company’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Deere & Company has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Dividends

Deere & Company pays an annual dividend of $6.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Deere & Company pays out 36.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Machinery” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.8% and pay out 24.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Deere & Company has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Deere & Company lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Summary

Deere & Company beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Co. engages in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in agriculture, construction, forestry, and turf care. It operates through the following segments: Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Agriculture and Turf segment focuses on the distribution and manufacture of a full line of agriculture and turf equipment and related service parts. The Construction and Forestry segment offers machines and service parts used in construction, earthmoving, road building, material handling and timber harvesting. The Financial Services segment finances sales and leases by John Deere dealers of new and used agriculture and turf equipment and construction and forestry equipment. The company was founded by John Deere in 1837 and is headquartered in Moline, IL.