Deere & Company $DE Position Lessened by Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc.

Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 41.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,628 shares during the quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Deere & Company were worth $7,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Deere & Company during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Deere & Company Price Performance

NYSE DE opened at $628.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $585.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $576.08. The company has a market cap of $169.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.89. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $433.00 and a 1 year high of $674.19.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The industrial products company reported $6.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.70 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.55 billion. Deere & Company had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 18.25%. Deere & Company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 18.28 EPS for the current year.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Deere & Company’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on DE. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Deere & Company from $765.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Deere & Company from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Deere & Company from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $642.98.

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.