Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $80.99 and last traded at $81.01, with a volume of 1403004 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $77.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CTVA. CICC Research lifted their price target on shares of Corteva from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Corteva from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research lowered Corteva from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Corteva from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Corteva has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.90.

Corteva Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.76 and a 200-day moving average of $69.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.37 billion, a PE ratio of 52.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.72.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. Corteva had a return on equity of 9.06% and a net margin of 6.29%.The company had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Corteva has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.450-3.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Corteva’s payout ratio is currently 45.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Corteva news, insider Brian Titus sold 8,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.55, for a total value of $636,207.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,289.50. This trade represents a 50.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTVA. Harris Associates L P raised its position in shares of Corteva by 168.1% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 17,026,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,675,052 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Corteva during the 4th quarter worth approximately $504,001,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Corteva by 6,527.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,148,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,025,000 after buying an additional 3,100,709 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Corteva by 78,688.5% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,615,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,336,000 after buying an additional 2,612,459 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Corteva by 4,007.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,442,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,164,000 after buying an additional 2,382,715 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Corteva

Corteva, Inc (NYSE: CTVA) is an independent global agriculture company that was established as a publicly traded firm in mid?2019 following the separation of the agriculture businesses from DowDuPont. The company focuses on delivering technologies and products that help farmers increase productivity and manage crop health. Corteva’s operations combine seed genetics, crop protection chemistries, digital tools and biological solutions to address the full cycle of crop production.

Core business activities include research and development of seed genetics and trait technologies, formulation and sale of crop protection products (such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides), and the development of seed treatments and biologicals.